February 11, 2022. – The Winter Olympic Games are currently being held in China. It is great to see strong and skilled sportswomen and men competing.

On average the Olympic athletes are in their mid-twenties. This year the most experienced and oldest athlete is the German speed skater Claudia Pechstein, 49. If the western world population is getting older, are the Olympic athletes as well? Will the hockey teams in the future be made of 50-year old men?

Perhaps professional sports is for the young also in the future, but work-life may look different. Are you aware what is the average age in your company? Is that more or less than ten years ago?

It is quite clear that companies wish for an even age distribution, but in real life that is not so easy to maintain. It is fairly easy when business is growing and you’re recruiting, but what if the employee count is static? Or even declines?

It is not an acute and dramatic problem that employees get older. Experience makes business fluent. Yet, the more similar the staff members are with each other, the more aligned is thinking. That’s partly good, but companies need crosswise opinions to improve. Fresh ideas emerge not only among young and old, but also among different genders, personalities, and backgrounds.