At the recent IBM summit on the multigenerational workforce in NY, I had the pleasure of hearing Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor address the audience (having read his books for years I have always wanted to hear him in person). What struck me about his talk was his focus on the importance of "relational capital" - the importance of relationships in working within the knowledge economy. Having done a significant amount of research on this topic (we typically refer to it as "social capital") it is always refreshing to hear a recognized economist talk about the critical nature of this resource, particuarly as it relates to the value of mature workers.

Related to this discusssion is an article written by a former colleague of mine, Barry Spiker and Suzzane Peterson entitled, "Establishing the Positive Contributory Value of Older Workers: A Positive Psychology Perspective" (Organizational Dynamics Vol. 34, No. 2, 2005)

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/621045/description#description

This article further reinforces the notion that mature workers bring a set of connections and relationships that are difficult to replace. I would recommend this article to those interested in the topic.