Is worker age a simple demographic variable?

Abstract

Birth-date-based chronological age is often used as a measure of worker ability. In the near future, employers will be required to improve their ability to assess the impact of aging on workers. The literature suggests a number of ways one might do this. Personal perceived age and work ability assessment are two promising alternative ways to assess worker age changes. In support of these alternatives and as a preface to the other papers presented in this journal, this paper suggests that personal perceived age reports differ from chronological age, are reliable, and appear to be worthy of further consideration.