In the future, even people in their seventies will be working, and people of all ages will need to keep learning. More and more careers will consist of several stages: instead of a single peak, a career will be built on climbing multiple peaks.
Companies play a key role in supporting longer and more varied careers. Experts in working life outline the changes that are needed. According to Kati Korhonen-Yrjänheikki, Chief Workability Officer at pension insurance company Elo, most learning happens in everyday work with colleagues and customers. Job rotation, study circles, knowledge-sharing moments, and coaching all strengthen skills. Korhonen-Yrjänheikki emphasizes that this requires conscious leadership and a psychologically safe culture where people are allowed to experiment and even fail.
Katja Granholm, Head of Workplace Well-being at insurance company Fennia, highlights the importance of job adjustments. Adjusted work makes temporary flexibility possible when an employee cannot work full-time or when certain tasks need to be limited due to work ability. This supports coping and helps retain expertise within the work community.
Workplaces with a diverse age structure are more productive and creative. Diverse teams understand customers better and solve problems more effectively. However, physically demanding industries pose a challenge, as not everyone’s work ability lasts until retirement. This requires job redesign, task changes, and retraining.
The way we talk about working life also needs to change. In the later stages of a career, it should be normal to slow down—for example, by moving from a leadership role to an expert role, if that supports well-being.
– Easing the workload toward the end of a career can be a wise decision, but too often it is seen as giving up. That should not be the case,” says Arno Ahosniemi, CEO of Finance Finland.
The photo shows the interviewees Kati Korhonen-Yrjänheikki, Katja Granholm, and Arno Ahosniemi.
This text was originally published in a slightly different form in the Work and Career supplement of Helsingin Sanomat on September 15, 2025