Idiosyncratic deals between employees and organizations: conceptual issues, applications, and the role of co-workers

The world’s population is aging rapidly (United Nations, 2009 ). In 2009, one out ofnine persons in the world was older than 60. In 2050, one out of every fi ve personsis expected to be 60 years or older (United Nations, 2009 ). In the world’s moredeveloped regions, estimates are that one out of three will be 60 years or over by2050. These changes, which are coming rapidly, particularly in the developed world,are attributable to three trends since the end of World War II. First, the baby boomgeneration currently constitutes the largest birth cohort ever to approach retirementage. Second, declining fertility rates in many countries lead to fewer younger peoplerelative to older adults. Women on average have fewer children, especially amongmore developed regions (United Nations, 2009 ). Finally, life expectancies acrossthe world are increasing as people become healthier through greater access tohealthcare and improved societal infrastructure. The consequence of these trends isan increase in the proportion of older people related to younger people, with Japan,Italy, Germany and Sweden headlining these changes (United Nations, 2004 , 2009 ).