Question

El Niro Inc. is automating processes so the company can meet its demand with a smaller workforce. The CEO asks Megan, the vice president of human resources, for advice on how to address the resulting labor surplus. Megan studies the workforce and observes that many employees are in their 50s and 60s. Furthermore, these employees are the highest-paid workers in every job category. Based on this information, what should Megan suggest as the most effective way of addressing El Niro's labor surplus?

Answer 1

Since the highest paid employees are over age 40, they cannot be simply fired since that would represent age discrimination at work, which is strictly prohibited by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

But Megan can offer different type of early retirement incentives to these employees so that they retire by their own will, e.g. pay them 1 or 2 weeks salary for every year that they worked for the company, age credits so that the employees can benefit from a pension plan, etc.