Puerto Rico’s ‘silver’ workforce offers growth path
Puerto Rico’s fast-aging population could be an opportunity if we choose to see it that way. In 2024, residents 65 and older represented one in four; older adults outnumber children by more than 300,000 people.
The median age sits in the mid-40s and keeps moving up. These statistics are not trivial and demand action.
At the same time, the labor market is sending another signal. Unemployment is near 5.5%, among the lowest in years, but labor force participation remains around 44 to 45%, far below the mainland U.S.
Tens of thousands of capable Puerto Ricans are on the sidelines. Many are older adults — unemployed, retired earlier than they could, or underemployed in roles that underuse their experience. If we are serious about growth, we cannot afford to leave this “silver dividend” idle.
Why focus on the 55 and older cohort? Because their advantages map directly into Puerto Rico’s near-term needs. Older adults bring experienced judgment, reliability, bilingual customer savvy, and deep sector knowledge in health care, construction, hospitality, manufacturing and public administration.
They understand how things get done. Employers still need supervisors, trainers, schedulers, procurement specialists, quality-assurance leads, and client-facing mentors who compress learning curves.
Consider health care. With a quarter of residents now aged 65 and older, demand for care coordination, home- and community-based services, chronic disease management and administrative support is rising.
Multiple analyses have flagged significant workforce gaps across the system, not just physicians but also nursing, technicians, coding and health information management, billing, and office and facility management. Older workers are strong candidates for some of these roles.
Construction and infrastructure are another fit. Recovery and resilience projects need permit shepherds, safety coordinators, materials controllers and site logistics planners — jobs where experience is decisive.
In tourism and hospitality, mature workers excel at service standards, complaint resolution and the subtle human touches that create repeat business. In manufacturing, they can strengthen quality systems and mentoring on the line.
Entrepreneurship and microbusinesses in trades, services and professional support can all flourish if stereotypes are cleared and doors opened to this workforce pool.
So, how do we unlock this workforce? Start by aligning incentives and training to the realities of later-career employment.
- Scale “learn and earn” re-entry for those 55+: Puerto Rico participates in the Senior Community Service Employment Program managed by “Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos,” offering paid, part-time training for unemployed adults 55 and older. Seek to expand placements with municipalities, nonprofits, hospitals, and small and medium-size enterprises, and convert more to unsubsidized jobs in hot sectors. Pair Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) with short, stackable microcourses so participants leave with portable skills and certifications.
- Build a “Silver Skills” microcredential suite: Through DTRH, University of Puerto Rico and private providers, offer six- to12-week modules in care coordination, revenue-cycle support, construction scheduling, procurement, customer success, export and e-commerce. Fast, practical and employer-validated skills that are relevant to the needs of the economic engine.
- Create targeted hiring incentives: A time-limited wage credit for employers that convert workers 55 and older to full-time roles, plus payroll tax relief for flexible or part-time arrangements that keep pensions and benefits whole. Tie incentives to completion of microcredentials/courses and retention.
- Make “returnship programs” normal: Encourage these programs for workers 55 and older in structured, paid three- to six-month immersions that refresh skills after a career break. Government can model the practice; major employers in health care, hospitality and manufacturing can follow with cohort-based programs.
- Reduce friction and bureaucracy: Simplify license recognition for experienced professionals. Offer fast-track digital literacy boot camps and use career coaching at Centros de Gestión Única. Provide small grants for tools, uniforms and transportation.
- Support encore entrepreneurs: Promote AARP Foundation’s Work for Yourself@50+ workshops and toolkit; pair them with Small Business Development Center mentoring, microloans and e-commerce enablement.
The private sector has homework. Age-inclusive hiring is not charity; it is a quality strategy. Remove degree inflation. Recruit for competencies and lived customer knowledge. Offer flexibility, seasonal roles, 20- to 30-hour weeks and hybrid schedules because flexibility is often the one feature that unlocks the decision to work.
Formalize mentorship ladders where employees 55 and older train cohorts of younger hires; codify that knowledge as standard operating procedures (SOPs) that persist. Refresh benefits design: caregiving leave (many older workers care for parents, partners or grandchildren), preventive health and phased retirement.
Policymakers should measure what matters: set a two-year target to bring 50,000 older Puerto Ricans back into the workforce through placements, returnship programs or startups; publish monthly dashboards on participation, retention and wage growth.
Align Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and sector-partnership funds with age-inclusive pipelines and tie grants to actual conversions to unsubsidized employment. And while we are at it, market Puerto Rico’s “silver talent advantage” to companies reshoring regulated manufacturing and services — firms that prize quality systems, reliability and bilingual support.
We often talk about demographic headwinds as destiny. They are not. Aging is real, but it is also a reservoir of experience that can lift service quality, speed up recovery projects and stabilize teams in critical sectors.
The task is practical: remove barriers, reward conversions and make it easy for those unemployed, retired or underemployed to plug back in. If government and business act together, the island’s “silver dividend” will look less like a cost and more like an advantage, one that pays out in growth, resilience and dignity for the people who built this economy in the first place.
Raúl Burgos is president and managing partner of Global 1080 Business Solutions, a consulting firm with more than 15 years of experience supporting business leaders in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Latin America. With more than 30 years in business, he is also the founder of the Puerto Rico Business Group on LinkedIn, a professional network of over 30,000 members focused on the island’s economic development and entrepreneurship.
