A qualitative case study to investigate the barriers to educational and professional development an aging workforce faces in an evolved digital workplace.

Many middle-aged workers in logistics, aged 40 to 60 years, for a multitude of reasons, are not advancing in their careers. The literature shows that age and perceived abilities impact how employers view and engage with middle-aged workers. Studies show that educational level and the relevance of that education are strong factors in how successfully workers can advance. Continued education and personal updates in emerging technology help to keep middle-aged workers relevant to the company. Socioeconomic factors and structural barriers that can and do limit middle-aged workers’ success in their careers are found in the literature. This qualitative single case study builds on prior knowledge and utilizes an a priori framework to delve deeper into the issue that middle-aged workers find themselves. The framework used is worker lifespan transition, which evaluated the participants on three pillars: person, context, and career outcomes (Zacher & Froidevaux, 2021). Five current or prior employees of a logistics company participated in this case study. Using a qualitative study allowed me to obtain lived experiences from middle-aged participants within logistics to develop a deep, rich understanding that can be triangulated across multiple data sources. The triangulation provides a credible and valid study for concise pragmatic analysis. The coding and themes uncovered several points within the framework evaluation and highlighted many emerging themes. In the logistical company study, structural barriers were uncovered in the form of ageism, a lack of steady leadership, favoritism, educational limitations with relevant degrees, and many other socioeconomic factors. The findings uncovered multiple instances of those issues. The clearly articulated findings around felt discrimination, leadership concerns, and educational limitations help look for actionable results. The implication of corporate leadership is that middle-aged workers are a loyal asset to be developed. Middle-aged workers have a large amount of organizational knowledge that organizations can harness to train new workers, creating business continuity if managed correctly.