JUNE 23, 2011

The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College, a research center of the Graduate School of Social Work, has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, to research the effectiveness of flexible time and place management strategies to maximize productivity from an age-diverse workforce. This is the Center's third multi-million dollar grant since 2005.

"Older workers are now the fastest growing segment of America's labor force," explains Center Director and GSSW Associate Professor Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes. Over the past six years, the Center has conducted research that has highlighted the value of older workers, the diverse work experiences of today's multi-generational workforce in countries around the world, and gaps in employer preparedness for the aging workforce. With the receipt of this new grant, the Center will now focus on gathering evidence about business-relevant outcomes associated with flexible time and place management policies.

"The aging of the workforce is one of the profound social issues which have an impact on organizational effectiveness," observes Alberto Godenzi, Dean of the BC GSSW. "We are delighted that the Sloan Center will have this opportunity to focus its rigorous research on workplace practices that can add value to productivity while also enhancing the quality of employment available to people of all ages."