Survey: Mass. is friendly to older workers

Five employers from Massachusetts - more than any other state - have been named to the AARP 2008 list of Best Employers for Workers Over 50, AARP said today.

A nonprofit membership organization dedicated to advocating for Americans 50 and older, the AARP said that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of Cambridge, Massachusetts General Hospital of Boston, Nashoba Valley Medical Center of Ayer, Harvard University of Cambridge, and DentaQuest of Charlestown made its list of the 50 best employers for older workers.

Healthcare and education are among the economic sectors likely to be hard hit by an aging work force, AARP said, and the large presence of those two sectors locally may be explain why Massachusetts placed more employers on the AARP list than any other state.

Currently, Massachusetts is the 12th oldest state in the nation, the AARP said, and by 2012, nearly one in five Massachusetts workers will be 55 and older.

“As employers face the generational shift in their workforce, it’s in their best interest to keep 50-plus workers on the job,” Deborah Banda, AARP Massachusetts state director, said in a statement. “Those who prepare today have the potential to be more competitive tomorrow.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)