This brief describes how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the workplace for older workers, the skills and training older workers will need to be successful on the job, and the opportunities and challenges AI creates for older workers. We offer strategies and recommendations for policymakers, employers, and education and training providers who support, hire and train adults age 50 and older to prepare them for a changing workplace. Our findings focus on older workers but are applicable to workers affected by AI transformation more broadly. Additional information is needed to prepare workers and job seekers to benefit from this increasingly powerful technology—regardless of age, industry, or role.

A shorter companion brief, “How to Prepare Older Adults for AI in the Workplace,” summarizes recommendations and strategies education and training providers, employers and policymakers can use to support older workers’ resilience amid this changing landscape.

Why This Matters

The rapid advancement and increasing complexity of AI in recent years has prompted education and training providers and employers to rethink workplace roles and consider what it means to be job-ready. Concerns about task augmentation and job displacement span work experience levels and industries. As AI becomes embedded into the workplace, it holds promise for expanding access to tools that support older workers’ workforce persistence and may present obstacles that disproportionately affect older adults.

What We Found

Some challenges AI poses for older workers include negative stereotypes about their willingness to learn new skills and comfort with technology, limited access to employer-provided or relevant training, and a lack of digital access and foundational digital skills—basic abilities to utilize technology like navigating a web browser. At the same time, older workers, who have years of professional experience, will be essential in providing critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and ethical oversight for the development of new AI models, and in the interpretation and evaluation of AI outputs. AI also creates opportunities for older workers by reshaping how work is performed, enabling older adults with mobility issues and health conditions to remain active in the workforce.

Below are strategies education and training providers, employers, and policymakers can implement to address these obstacles, capitalize on potential opportunities, and ultimately support older workers’ economic security and mobility in an AI-enhanced workforce:

• Continued investment in and focus on the development of older workers’ digital, AI, and information literacy skills. Education and training providers can integrate the development of “durable skills” such as critical thinking and information literacy into AI training to help older workers maximize the benefits of AI tools. Policymakers can support investments that target older adults’ foundational digital skills and technology access needs.
• Expand employer-provided training opportunities to improve access to and application of AI in real-world settings. Employers can provide AI training and skills development training in context, emphasizing relevance to industry and employee role.
• Provide paid time for older workers to experiment and practice with AI tools. Education and training providers and employers can give older adults the opportunity to experiment with AI tools, compensating this time for practice as part of their training infrastructure.
• Increase transparency by communicating skill expectations and desired AI competencies to job seekers. Employers can be transparent about desired AI competencies so that job seekers understand sought-after skills. However, business leaders may still be developing an understanding of what advanced AI skills look like in practice and how to document those changes publicly due to the pace of technological change.
• Leverage AI-driven tools to streamline job search and provide career navigation support. Education and training providers as well as government entities such as public workforce system job centers and public libraries can provide older adults with AI-driven tools to streamline job searches, enhance résumés, and provide targeted career navigation support.

How We Did It

To inform our understanding of how AI is affecting the workforce generally, and older workers specifically, we conducted a literature review and held interviews and focus groups with 20 individuals across 19 organizations. Respondents included education and training providers, researchers, and business and industry experts.