Human-centered digitalized jobs including demands on and possibilities of learning for the elderly

Status:

completed 01/2025

Aims:

The project intends to describe the job demands of new kinds of organization in interlinked digitalized work as they are perceived by employees of different ages, in comparison with the characteristics of human-centered work design (DIN EN ISO 6385). These demands are of interest as they are, and as they are desired by employees.

Activities/Methods:

The methods of the investigation and the contents of the questionnaires and workshops applied are based on an analysis of international research reports as to the characteristics of human-centered work, the demands of flexible, interlinked, digitalized work, the characteristics of performance and learning of elderly employees, as well as the characteristics of learning by doing, and its prerequisite i.e. the job design promoting learning. The selected, evaluated questionnaires were applied online (n1 = 268); n2 = 23 employees participated in the workshops. The random sample of employees in different German administrative offices offers statistically valid results.

Results:

Established findings from ageing research show that successful learning also occurs in the second half of the working life, provided that challenging work content and conditions are available and harmful work influences and damaging age myths are averted.

"Work 4.0" is increasingly widespread in the fields of work investigated and includes, in particular, the self-organization of work performance with networked digital work tools - with inadequate design and with time pressure due to a lack of time specifications based on ergonomics, informational def-icits (lack of information with an abundance of data) and recreational/leisure time impairments.

"Learning on the job" with and without digital learning requirements and support is the main form of lifelong learning. The targeted participatory design of this form of learning has clear implementation reserves compared to the international state of knowledge: they concern the combination of participatory learning and health-promoting work design as preventive condition design with information, especially for managers, about the diverse support possibilities of work-immanent learning as (at the same time health-promoting) behavioural design. Usable organizational prerequisites required by law are in place (risk assessment).

Based on this solid concept, a practicable procedure for lifelong learning in information-rich "good/human-centred work 4.0" was also developed, validated and introduced in a transferable manner for older employees.

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