OECD Launches Tool to Help Companies Assess Preparedness for Ageing Workforces

The OECD launched the Longevity Readiness Tool in partnership with AARP on 11 May 2026. org/en, takes under thirty minutes to complete and benchmarks performance against sector peers across more than 30 countries. It draws on data from more than 30 OECD countries and organises its assessment across four domains: Recruitment and retention, Training, Job quality, and Health and safety.

The launch event took place in the OECD’s Paris auditorium. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox facilitated the launch event. The launch panel included the Global Brand President of Accor, the Executive Director of Eurofound, the Director of Organisation and Future of Work at L’Oréal, the Chief Culture Inclusion and Experience Officer of Sanofi, the Greek Ambassador to the OECD, and the founder of Knowldy.

Shruti Singh, Senior Economist for Ageing and Employment Policies at the OECD, built the tool after years of research mapping demographic change, labour market policy and employer practice. 6% per year through 2024–2060. By 2060, the size of the working-age population across the OECD is projected to fall by 8% on average.

In countries like Korea the decline is projected to exceed 30%. People 50+ account for just 9% of new hires across the OECD, while workers in their late 50s and early 60s are 30 to 40% less likely to receive training than their colleagues aged 34 to 54. Around one-third of workers face health-related limitations that affect their ability to stay employed.

Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director of Eurofound, noted that the number of 55+ workers in European labour markets has risen by 67% over the past 15 years from 24 million to 40 million. In some European age brackets the employment gap has effectively closed. "The question is no longer whether older workers can contribute," Kalfin said.

Raj Verma, Chief Culture, Inclusion and Experience Officer at Sanofi, described a systematic audit of all talent processes to remove age proxies from job postings to selection criteria. "Age bias is structural, not individual," Verma said. "You cannot tackle it by asking people to be less biased.

Pharmaceutical development at Sanofi takes 10 to 15 years. Mixed-age teams consistently outperform on innovation, he added, because the company needs people who can think in years, not quarters. Murielle Arnould, Director of Organisation and Future of Work at L’Oréal, said over 70% of L’Oréal employees globally have now received AI training, including workers on the factory floor.

"50 is a tipping point, not a terminus," Arnould stated. L’Oréal's 'For All Generations' programme places health checkups and preventive care in the framework of career sustainability. Jean-Yves Minet, Global Brand President for Midscale and Economy at Accor, outlined three shifts: deeper understanding of longevity as better daily life, a move from future planning to present action, and systems change requiring brands, businesses, governments and organisations to act together.

Accor's Novotel brand has built a 'longevity every day' strategy organised around eating, sleeping, movement and social connection that applies to both guests and staff. Mathilde Thillaye du Boullay, founder of Knowldy, said experience should be viewed as potential rather than its opposite.

In the Netherlands, collective agreements in the food sector allow older workers to reduce working time to 80% while retaining 90% of salary and full pension accrual.

Kalfin described flexible retention as cheaper than finding and training inexperienced replacements. Forbes reported on the launch in an article published on May 14, 2026. The panel closed with recognition that institutional knowledge carried by experienced people becomes a competitive asset once they leave.

The tool is now available with live benchmarks drawn from more than 30 OECD countries.