Caregivers of elderly parents may need help from the workplace in order to complete their jobs.
While companies have often focused on helping younger people with onsite daycare facilities for their children, a similar situation has developed for older employees who have found themselves responsible for providing care for their elderly parents.
More and more Americans are taking care of their elderly parents. Many are taking care of children and elderly parents.
Recently, Next Avenue reported on speculation that this might lead to companies offering onsite elder care facilities in "Will We Soon See Workplaces With On-Site Elder Care?"
The speculation comes from a speech at the annual Davos summit given by Welltower CEO Thomas DeRosa. He stated that taking care of a parent with Alzheimer's is a fulltime job for someone who cannot afford to hire a professional caregiver. Such a person would have to quit work, so it would be a good idea for companies who want to retain employees to have the facilities.
It is estimated that productivity losses due to taking care of family members cost $33.6 billion a year.
Of course, this is just speculation. No company has offered onsite elder care facilities yet.
Reference: Next Avenue (Jan. 29, 2016) "Will We Soon See Workplaces With On-Site Elder Care?"
