In 1997, 25 Japanese citizens, all older than 60, launched Jeeba ( the name means “ old man and old woman”)to make senior-friendly products. They knew they were making history when they coined their company motto: “Of the elderly, by the elderly and for the elderly.” They do not hire young people, and the oldest of their workers is 75. Firms run by senior citizens are still a rarity, in Japan and worldwide. But the elderly have numbers on their side. Healthier and longer-living seniors, born immediately after World War II, are reaching retirement age in huge numbers all over the developed world. Extremely low birthrates in those same countries mean there are far fewer young workers to take their place. One likely consequence is now clear: shrinking work forces. While the streamlining effects of international competition are focusing attention on the need to create and keep good jobs, those fears will eventually give way to worries about the growing shortage of young workers. One unavoidable solution: putting older people back to work, whether they like it or not. Indeed, advanced economies like those of Finland and Denmark have already raised their retirement ages. Others are under severe pressure to follow suit, as both the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have recently warned their members that their future prosperity depends on a growing contribution from the elderly. Whether these changes are good or bad news to workers depends on whether they anticipate retirement with eagerness or dread. In the United States, half of working-age Americans now expect to work into their 70s, whether by financial necessity or by lifestyle choice, according to a new study by Putnam Investments. Contrary to still widespread assumptions, there is very little hard evidence to suggest that companies cannot stay competitive with a rising share of older workers. At British hardware chain B&Q, its “elder worker” stores in Manchester and Exmouth were 18 percent more profitable than its regular outlets—due in part, the company says, to six times less employee turnover and 60 percent less shoplifting and breakage.