Episode
A Workforce That Welcomes Older Adults
- Podcast
- Looking Forward Our Way
- Published
- Sep 1, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 2502
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Age Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and Strategies for Employers In this episode of Looking Forward Our Way, Brett and Carol are joined by Dr. Jennifer Crittenden, Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Maine and Associate Director for Research at the University of Maine Center on Aging . The focus is on the challenges and opportunities facing older adults as they transition into paid employment, and particularly on how volunteerism can act as a bridge to help them re-enter the workforce. Dr. Crittenden began by sharing her background in gerontology and her early research in older adult volunteerism. She noticed a fascinating trend: some older volunteers were leaving their unpaid roles because they needed or wanted to return to paid employment. This observation set her on a research path to better understand how older adults juggle different responsibilities—such as caregiving, volunteering, and work—and whether skills gained in volunteer opportunities could support their move into paid roles. Through a study funded by AmeriCorps, Dr. Crittenden discovered that many older adults indeed use volunteer experiences as a stepping stone back into employment—even if the volunteer programs themselves weren’t specifically designed for that purpose. This realization led her and other researchers to ponder whether volunteerism could actually become a structured pathway to employment for seniors. Furthermore, her research highlighted the “spillover effect”: skills acquired through both in-person and virtual volunteering frequently enhanced other aspects of life, such as caregiving or community engagement. The partnership with AmeriCorps became more formalized when, in 2022, Dr. Crittenden’s center was approached to help study a new round of demon…