NYU Silver’s Dr. Ernest Gonzales helped inform the City of Los Angeles’ AdvantAGE LA blueprint for supporting older workers.
Faced with both an aging population and a shrinking pool of skilled workers, the City of Los Angeles conducted extensive research to develop AdvantAGE LA: A Blueprint for Employing, Retaining, and Advancing Older Workers. NYU Silver Associate Professor Ernest Gonzales was one of the subject matter experts interviewed by the plan’s authors to help inform the June 2024 report.
This report comes at a time when people who are older than traditional retirement age are the fastest growing segment of the national labor force, and the number of older adults is increasing faster than any other age group in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, employers are experiencing historic labor shortages and struggling to find skilled workers, according to the report’s authors.
“I’m really impressed with how California, and LA in particular, have been responding to population aging and equity,” said Dr. Gonzales, who is also NYU’s James Weldon Johnson Professor of Social Work and Director of the Center for Health and Aging Innovation (CHAI). “They are at the forefront of acknowledging age discrimination, as well as its differential impacts based on race, gender, and a confluence of personal identities. They recognize there are some vulnerable populations who have been left behind earlier in their lives who, without intervention, are going to be left behind yet again.”
In fact, Dr. Gonzales said, the report authors were especially interested in his insights on how ageism intersects with other forms of prejudice and the importance of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), the only federally-funded program to help low-income older adults find employment. Those were among the issues addressed in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2022 report Understanding the Aging Workforce: Defining a Research Agenda, which Dr. Gonzales co-authored as a member of the Committee on Understanding the Aging Workforce and Employment at Older Ages.
“While the AdvantAGE LA plan didn’t cite me or the National Academies report explicitly, it directly addresses the themes of cumulative disadvantage and social policies that have the potential to make a meaningful impact on health, economic security, and social bonds among vulnerable older adults,” said Dr. Gonzales. “The report provides actionable strategies for government, employers, workforce development programs, and education providers to create age-inclusive workplaces, promote diversity, and tap into the valuable skills and experience of older employees.”
In addition to interviews with subject matter experts like Dr. Gonzales, the AdvantAGE LA plan is based on a comprehensive literature review, analysis of relevant government data, focus groups with older adults and workforce service providers, a survey of older workers and a cross-sector working group of stakeholders. Learn more and access the full report from the City of Los Angeles Economic & Workforce Development Department.