Article
Keeping Experienced Workers in Manufacturing Through Ergonomics
Pronomic
Your most experienced operator is the hardest one to replace. Here’s how to keep them.
A skilled operator who has run your line for twenty years knows things that are not written down anywhere. They can hear when a machine is running differently. They know how to recover a batch before it becomes scrap. They know where the process really loses time, and which small adjustments keep production moving.
When that person leaves, a job advert does not replace them. It may not even fill the vacancy.
For plant managers, this is not simply an age-management issue. It is a capacity, continuity and retention issue. The question is not only how to recruit faster. It is why experienced people leave physically demanding work earlier than they need to, and which parts of that risk an employer can reduce.
The workforce is ageing faster than many jobs are changing
Europe’s labour market is relying more heavily on older workers. In 2024, the EU employment rate among people aged 55–64 was 71.4% for men and 59.4% for women. Both figures have risen substantially since 2015, showing that more people are working later into their careers. Eurostat employment statistics
At the same time, employers across Europe continue to face structural labour shortages. The European Labour Authority’s 2025 EURES report identifies demographic change, skills mismatches, job quality and limited labour mobility as drivers of persistent labour-market imbalances. Difficult working conditions add pressure in many shortage occupations. European Labour Authority: Labour shortages and surpluses in Europe 2025
Retaining experienced employees is therefore not optional succession planning. It is a direct way to protect operational knowledge and production capacity. OECD analysis also shows that, on average, only a little over half of workers aged 55–59 remain in the same job five years later. OECD: Ageing and employment (oecd.org)
Ageing matters - but age alone is not the issue
Physical capacity changes over time. Recovery from demanding physical work can take longer, and jobs involving force, repetition, awkward postures or heavy manual handling may become less sustainable if the work itself is not adapted.
But age does not determine whether someone can continue to contribute. Experience, anticipation, judgement and task-specific skill often remain highly valuable. The practical issue is the fit between a worker’s capacity and the physical demands built into a task.
EU-OSHA notes that roughly 30% of people aged 50–64 may need work adjustments because of health problems in order to reduce the risk of early retirement or work disability. Musculoskeletal problems are among the main concerns. EU-OSHA: Promoting active ageing in the workplace (osha.europa.eu)
The question for manufacturers is therefore not, “How old is our workforce?” It is, “Which tasks are unnecessarily demanding the most from the people we most need to retain?”
The finding that should change how you think about retention
Work-limiting musculoskeletal pain is a strong predictor of earlier exit from physically demanding work.
A prospective Danish study followed 3,050 workers aged 50 and over in physically demanding jobs. It found that workers reporting work-limiting musculoskeletal pain had a progressively higher risk of losing paid employment before state pension age. Compared with workers reporting no work-limiting pain, those reporting a very high degree of limitation had a substantially higher risk of leaving paid work during the follow-up period. Skovlund et al., European Journal of Public Health, 2023
A separate 14-year longitudinal study of adults aged 50 and over in England reached a consistent conclusion: frequent musculoskeletal pain was associated with an increased risk of ceasing work and retiring earlier. Niederstrasser, Wainwright and Stevens, PLOS ONE, 2024 (researchportal.port.ac.uk)
This does not mean that pain is the only reason people leave work. Retirement decisions are shaped by health, job design, finances, personal circumstances and labour-market conditions. But it does mean that work-limiting pain is a measurable warning sign — and one that employers can address before it becomes a retention outcome.
Musculoskeletal strain is a business risk, not only a health-and-safety issue
Musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common work-related health problems in Europe. They can affect the back, neck, shoulders, upper limbs and lower limbs, and in more serious or chronic cases they can lead to absence, disability or the need to leave work altogether. EU-OSHA: Musculoskeletal disorders
Manual handling, repetitive movements and the movement of heavy loads are established workplace risk factors. In EU-OSHA’s 2024 enterprise survey, 52% of workplaces identified lifting or moving people or heavy loads as a relevant health-and-safety risk factor, while repetitive hand or arm movements were reported by 63% of workplaces. EU-OSHA ESENER 2024 findings (osha.europa.eu)
For a production business, the effect is practical:
Heavy handling increases strain.
Strain can become work-limiting pain.
Work-limiting pain raises the risk of earlier exit.
Earlier exit removes process knowledge, flexibility and production resilience.
The first part of that chain, the design of the work itself, is where an employer has the greatest influence.
What ergonomic lifting equipment changes
The objective is not to remove people from demanding work. It is to redesign the task so that force, reach and repetition no longer determine who can perform it safely and consistently.
What the task demands | Without the right lifting solution | With the right lifting solution |
Moving a 25 kg sack to a hopper | Manual force, awkward handling and potential need for a second person | A powered lift takes the load while the operator controls positioning |
Repetitive end-of-line handling | Cumulative strain builds throughout the shift | Equipment handles the load, reducing repeated physical effort |
Working at an awkward height | Reaching, twisting or over-extension | The load can be positioned at a more appropriate working height |
Staffing the task | Often limited to a smaller group with sufficient physical capacity | More trained team members can perform the task within safer limits |
Recovery after a shift | Physical demand may accumulate across days and weeks | Lower strain supports more sustainable work over time |
Powered lifting trolleys are often suited to mobile and variable tasks, such as moving materials between stations, loading machines or handling sacks, reels and containers. Overhead handling systems are often more appropriate where the lift is fixed, frequent and repetitive, and where floor space needs to remain clear.
Both approaches support the same outcome: the task becomes less dependent on individual strength and more consistent across shifts, operators and stages of a career.
Why rotation and training are not enough on their own
Job rotation, work instructions and training all have an important role. But they do not remove the weight of a load, the reach distance or the number of repetitions in a shift.
European health-and-safety practice prioritises reducing risk at source. In manual handling, that means first considering whether hazardous handling can be avoided, redesigned or supported mechanically before relying mainly on individual technique. MSDs commonly develop over time through multiple physical, organisational and psychosocial risk factors, which is why task design matters as much as training. EU-OSHA: MSD causes and prevention
A two-person lift may reduce the immediate handling risk, but it also doubles the labour required for that part of the process. Rotation can spread the load, but it does not necessarily reduce the total physical demand. A lifting solution can reduce the demand at the source.
The recruitment benefit
Retention and recruitment are often managed as separate problems. For physically demanding roles, they are closely connected.
Candidates assess whether a job looks sustainable. They do so quickly. often before they have read a recruitment campaign, benefits package or development plan. A workplace where heavy, repetitive tasks are visibly supported by appropriate handling equipment signals that the company invests in safety, technology and long-term employability.
The same improvement that helps an experienced operator continue in the role can make that role more credible to a new entrant.
Where to start
Start with the task, not the person.
Prioritise operations where two or more of the following are true:
The load is heavy, unstable or difficult to grip.
The lift is repeated throughout the shift.
The task involves twisting, reaching, bending or working above shoulder height.
Employees regularly ask for assistance or complete the task in pairs.
Experienced people quietly avoid, swap or restrict the task.
Musculoskeletal absence, discomfort or modified duties cluster around the operation.
Output slows when a specific operator is unavailable.
Then assess the task in practical terms: load type, weight, frequency, travel distance, lift height, available floor space and process constraints. ProBLDR can help scope the handling challenge and identify an appropriate lifting approach for a specific operation.
Frequently asked questions
Why do experienced workers leave physically demanding jobs early?
People leave work for many reasons, but research shows that work-limiting musculoskeletal pain is an important risk factor for earlier loss of paid employment among older workers in physically demanding jobs. Reducing unnecessary force, awkward postures and repetition can help address a factor employers can influence.
Does physical capacity decline enough to matter?
It can matter when work has high physical demands. The key issue is not age alone, but whether force, repetition, posture and recovery demands exceed what the task should reasonably require from an individual. EU-OSHA highlights the importance of adapting work where health-related limitations could otherwise increase the risk of work disability or early retirement.
Isn’t safe-lifting training enough?
Training is important, but it cannot change the weight, shape, frequency or position of a load. For repetitive or demanding handling tasks, reducing risk at source through task redesign or mechanical assistance is generally more reliable than relying only on technique.
How does ergonomic equipment affect recruitment?
Handling equipment makes a physically demanding role look more sustainable, better designed and more professional. It also enables a broader group of trained employees to perform the task safely, rather than concentrating demanding work among the strongest or most experienced individuals.
The bottom line
Europe’s workforce is ageing, labour shortages remain structural, and experienced people are difficult to replace. Employers cannot control every reason someone decides to leave work. They can, however, control whether avoidable physical demands make an experienced employee’s role harder to sustain than it needs to be.
Ergonomic lifting is not a wellbeing initiative beside the business. It is a practical way to protect capability, retain process knowledge and make demanding work more sustainable for the people already on the floor and the people you need to attract next.
Start with one task: the lift your team avoids, doubles up on or feels at the end of a shift.
