Turning ageing into an asset in the Nordics

Why age diversity matters

Let’s face it, there are a lot of underlying assumptions about getting older. People often see their advancing years as something to endure, not embrace, flinch from not favour. Certainly, the sheer prevalence of anti-ageing products now available speaks to a society which continues to highly prize the elixir of everlasting youth.

Such a mindset often drifts into the professional domain. Look around your office and chances are that older colleagues, certainly when it comes to new recruits, are few and far between. But times are changing.

The International Monetary Fund recently issued a report which declared that “70s are the new 50s” and called on older people to stay in employment for longer. When analysing data from 41 countries, they found that someone aged 70 in 2022 had the same cognitive function as the average 53-year-old in 2000. Such findings in part reflect greater awareness around fitness, nutrition and wellbeing which means that older employees are likely to have greater stamina than their counterparts in previous decades. As a result, more people are able to continue who otherwise might have disappeared from the workforce.

There’s little doubt that those organisations which have a larger proportion of older people in their workforce stand to benefit in numerous ways. Different perspectives do not only stem from diverse gender and socio-economic backgrounds — contrasting ages can also help foster innovation, enhance decision making and strengthen knowledge sharing.

It is precisely these advantages which should help shatter oft-held presumptions about older people — particularly around their potential, energy and commitment. “Age is one thing on your birth certificate, but it's really about a person’s mindset,” points out Helle Bay, former chief human resources officer (CHRO) at ASSA ABLOY Group.

“I've met people you would consider young when you look at their age but their mindset doesn’t reflect that. I have also met people who are very senior in years but who still have a very innovative approach. So it’s about finding that balance across different generations.”

Striking this balance is exactly what MajBritt Afert has also sought to achieve while serving as Ericsson’s chief people officer. “I don’t believe it’s good if you are too much skewed to one or the other, especially for bigger companies,” she says. “Smaller start-ups may need to think a little bit differently but for companies our size, I think it's extremely healthy to have a good age distribution across the workforce.”

Looking at the numbers

In 2025, 21% of the Nordic population were aged 65 and older and this is projected to rise in the future.

The Nordic Statistics Database — which analyses data from Denmark, The Faroe Islands, Greenland, Finland, Åland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden — also found that the 65 years and older group has increased by 31% since 1990. On an individual country basis, the increase varies between 16% in Norway and 77% in Finland. By contrast, the 0-19 years age group has decreased by 13%, and the working age group (20-64 years) has decreased by 3%.

It's findings like this which help explain why Denmark recently became the first country in Europe to raise its retirement age to 70 by 2040. Since 2006, Danish policymakers have linked their country’s retirement age to life expectancy, revising it every five years. This means that the current retirement age of 67 will rise to 68 in 2030 and 69 in 2035, with the retirement age at 70 applying to everyone born after December 31, 1970.

As the Nordic workforce evolves, Jessica Häggström, CHRO at Investor AB, predicts that those companies which do not embrace age diversity risk falling behind their competitors. “This isn’t just about age diversity, it’s about future-proofing our businesses,” she says. “We talk a lot about staying future-proofed because you never reach it. Having this mindset of future-proofing is what we do.”

But it’s not just about what awaits over the horizon, also looming large is the knowledge of what has occurred in the past — something which can also offer important commercial value. Ole Mølskov Bech, corporate vice president at Novo Nordisk, believes that if the demographics of a workforce become too tilted towards younger employees, this vital institutional expertise will become increasingly scarce.

“If there is a drift towards younger people then this does bring a little bit of a challenge,” he says. “Age is often associated with experience and knowledge of those unwritten rules about how to get things done and we don’t want to lose that.”

This might also explain the increasing trend towards older CEOs. Spencer Stuart’s latest report on CEO Transitions in Europe found that there has been a steady increase in the age of CEOs appointed since 2010. In 2024, nearly 20% of new CEOs were over 60 at the time of their appointment and only 20% were under 50. In 2010, by contrast, just 4% of new CEOs were over 60 and 42% were under 50.

Beware the barriers

It’s important to note that even with the best intentions, companies face significant challenges when seeking to achieve greater age diversity.

After all, it is far from the only issue jostling for the attention of a CHRO, a fact acknowledged by Katariina Kravi, executive vice president, people and communication, at Stora Enso.“ There is a risk that age diversity can fall down the priority list,” she says. “Diversity has multiple dimensions that can be seen as more essential. For example, in our case, we have been concentrating on gender and that requires quite a lot of focus.”

To help ensure diversity remains in the spotlight, tracking progress needs to be data-driven and rooted in the business’s evolving requirements, according to Maria Rönnberg, senior vice president for people and organisation at Husqvarna Group. “It needs to be central, not something on the side,” she says. “My view on making progress on any kind of diversity is to start with the data. This means we can track what we do and those insights will give make us aware of what choices we're making.”

Sometimes, practical considerations can get in the way, as Susanne Skippari, CHRO at Carlsberg, points out. “It's important to understand the context that organisations operate in,” she says. “In my previous role at KONE, many of the positions were in the field and this could be quite physical work as it involved the maintenance and installation of escalators and elevators. Then came the question of whether we were losing some people into early retirement because they were not able to do the physical work anymore. This shows why it is important that companies invest in preventative health care so they don't lose valued colleagues due to physical issues.”

And some companies with a low churn rate, such as Ericsson, also find it difficult to create career paths for new recruits. MajBritt Afert concedes that it is an issue that has both positive and negative connotations. “We have extremely low turnover and this is probably because people like working here,” she says. “We are very proud of this but then on the other hand we don't get the mobility so it makes it harder to bring in new people.”

What’s working for Nordic leaders?

There is little doubt that the issue of multi-generational workplaces has become increasingly pertinent within the business community and wider public consciousness. In Finland, for example, the 55 Rise and Shine campaign has garnered significant support for its aim to ensure that meaningful work is available for everyone, as Katariina Kravi explains.

“It was launched by a senior business leader who was asked if she had any recommendations from her network for an upcoming CEO role,” she says. “At the same time, she was told she had a fantastic profile but was too old to be considered herself. She then wrote about this in the media and started 55 Rise and Shine to promote greater age equality.”

The campaign’s success reflects the fact that the risk of losing talent due to age discrimination is now a serious issue for businesses. “Discrimination on age is dangerous because we need all the workforce we can get and it's hard to get talent,” says Maria Rönnberg. “If people are ‘done’ when they’re 50 that's not going to work.” Susanne Skippari agrees. “With the current war for talent, and lack of skilled workforce, no company can afford to overlook the pools of talent at all age-groups,” she says.

The good news is that leading Nordic companies are taking action — starting with mentoring programmes. Such activities often strike a chord, says Ole Mølskov Bech. “I think the biggest challenge is young colleagues just starting with us who are searching for guidance,” she says. “I have many examples of younger colleagues contacting me asking how to navigate the organisation so they can figure out how to do their job.”

Maria Rönnberg oversees a variety of measures which seek to bridge different generations. “We have a regular mentorship program and we also have reverse mentoring which is more informal,” she explains. “Personally, I have a reverse mentor, a young female engineer, who helps me understand what matters to younger colleagues. It is very good for me to get her perspective and very rewarding to have conversations with her.”

Jessica Häggström also says that reverse mentoring schemes, while not always easy to implement, are becoming more prevalent. “It’s not the young person learning from the more senior, experienced person but the other way around,” she says. “This requires an open mindset and mixed age groups in teams — we have to encourage them all to stay curious.”

The focus on continuous curiosity reflects the importance of ensuring that executive team members have the right blend of capabilities and soft skills. “It’s the leader who creates the weather, right?” says Helle Bay. “I have a saying ‘I always try to hire people that are better than myself in any way’. You have to keep embracing that mentality.”

Jessica Häggström also believes that continuous learning is critical. “The absolute key is to stay curious and continue to learn throughout your career,” she says. “You're not finished with education when you start work, you have to have the mindset of staying curious and continuing to learn. As adults, we learn from doing things.”

There are also some external factors that are also propelling age diversity to the fore, particularly the role of government and recent legislation affecting retirement ages, as Ole Mølskov Bech points out. “When it comes to making it more attractive to keep people for longer then this ties very well into comments from the Danish prime minister who said we should all work longer than they have done in the past,” she says. “65 is no longer the 65 it was 20 years ago. I think we should look a lot more at the person, their energy, their drive and their commitment.”

Four steps to build a multi-generational workforce

So what can CHROs and other senior leaders actually do to foster greater age diversity in the workplace? Here are some recommendations:

1. Use data to drive decisions: Workforce insights should go beyond gender and nationality to include age distribution, internal mobility rates, and retention trends.
2. Rethink career paths and flexibility: Careers are no longer linear. Organisations should move beyond traditional career ladders and introduce project-based work, lateral moves, and job-sharing to keep employees engaged at different life stages.
3. Create intentional cross-generational set-ups: Mix age groups in teams and leadership roles to fully leverage both rich experience and fresh perspectives. Implement mentorship initiatives that benefit all ages.
4. Embed lifelong learning in company culture: Learning is no longer just for young employees. Companies should provide continuous training opportunities and encourage employees to stay curious, adaptable, and innovative throughout their careers.

The bottom line is that companies that fail to integrate a multi-generational strategy risk losing both valuable expertise and emerging talent. Organisations that get this right will be able to leverage various perspectives to encourage innovation, reduce turnover by creating fulfilling flexible career paths for all ages, and strengthen knowledge sharing by having a blend of age groups working across their operations.

The future of work isn’t just about hiring the next generation; it’s about creating a workforce where every generation thrives, young and old alike.