The emergence of age management in Europe

This article examines the recent rise in Europe of an interest in age management at both organisational and national policy levels. It discusses the main reasons for this new focus: workforce ageing, the age/employment paradox, the public policy imperatives, the organisational pressures and the goal of equal opportunities or age diversity. Some illustrations are provided of age management organisational strategies. The final part of the article proposes a way forward from the current mainly passive approach to age management towards genuine age diversity in organisations. Key words: ageing population European Union, mature workers, human resource management