Ageism and stereotypes about older adults may lead rehabilitation professionals to misunderstand the impact of employment on this population. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2006) reported that in 2005, 5.3 million (15.1%) Americans age 65 and over were in the labor force. This included 3.0 million men (19.8%) and 2.3 million women (11.5%). Surprisingly, older adults made up almost 3.5% of our work force. Consequently, there is a substantial portion of older adults who are willing and able to contribute to the world of work!

Rehabilitation professionals may need to balance consumer choice (autonomy) with their duty to protect consumers from harm (beneficence) when working to place older adults in employment settings. Typical tools like functional capacity assessment and transferable skills analyses detailing functional individual strengths, limitations, and interests must be utilized to support effective job placement activities. Additional attention should be directed toward helping older adults cope with work environments that might be antagonistic or hostile to these returning workers, recognizing the potential for ageism and other negative attitudes being a substantial barrier to successful re-entry into the workforce.

Finally, rehabilitation professionals should not forget that older adults are well educated and possess considerable knowledge and skills in addition to what may be rich and varied work histories. According to the AOA (2006), educational levels among this population are changing significantly. In fact, between 1970 and 2005, the number of older adults who had completed high school rose from 28% to 74%. Additionally, almost 20% of older adults had completed a bachelor's degree.