If we’re going to be living to be 100 years old, what needs to change in the workplace and in society and culture to make both those latter years more enjoyable for the person and beneficial for our communities?

People today will live longer than ever before. We also have a quarter of the world under 14yrs of age. In the years ahead the workforce will be filled with people at the start and end of the career curve - a truly multigenerational workforce. Instead of creating problems in the workplace and an ultra-competitive job market, could it instead be an opportunity for us to work in different ways? Where mentorship, job sharing and collaboration provides a chance for everyone across the age band to learn from one another?

These two women are using their experiences and their research to propose what new opportunities might look like in the future of work and the role of learning to support both continual innovation and wellbeing.

Our guests today come from different backgrounds but have a common and perhaps vested interest in the opportunities available to those in the later stages of their careers. 

Emma Watson is a graduate of the Human Potential for the Digital Economy postgraduate certificate at Tech Futures Lab, and Judy Christie is the Communities Manager for The Mind Lab and Tech Futures Lab. 

Emma has worked in the commercial business sector for much of her career, with a large part in the information technology space in a range of strategy, operations and finance leadership roles.For some time, Emma has had an interest in age diversity in the workplace - both young and old. She saw the Human Potential for the Digital Economy programme as a chance to explore how we can ‘learn and earn for the hundred year life’, and nurture age diversity as an opportunity for both innovation and wellbeing in society.

Judy, sometimes known affectionately as ‘Aunt Judy’, has spent a large part of her career in the education sector, but sees her role more about people and fostering potential in them. Judy is all for diversity, of all types, but has experienced first hand what it’s like to be shut out because of her age. Now as our Communities Manager, Judy spends a most of her time connecting with our learners and alumni who have inspired her to continue her own learning journey. A graduate of the Digital Skills for the Workplace micro-credential, Judy is now seriously considering taking on the Master of Technological Futures.