Pandemic-induced job losses have taken a toll on workers of all ages, but older workers are having a harder time returning to the workforce. From the long-term economic and health care impacts to the benefits of knowledge transfer, this article outlines all the reasons "building back better" should include a multi-generational workforce.

Research suggests that color affects people's moods, so try pale colors to relax your audience and something brighter for exciting and entertaining your audience, writes Nick Morgan. "If you're a trainer who works with an audience for a half-day or a day, then you might think about a progression of colors," he writes.

One way to alleviate workplace stress is by learning to say no to additional assignments when you are stretched to capacity. Here are some suggestions for turning down work without hurting your career.

A Harvard Business School study suggests that companies relying on automated software to sift through job applicants are rejecting good candidates. "Strategically, our point of view was if you have the skills why should it matter how you got them?" says Nickle LaMoreaux, chief HR officer for IBM, which rewrote job postings and stopped requiring a college degree for some roles.

The US labor force was older in 2019 than 1979, with employees 55 and older increasing as a share of the workforce and young adults and teenagers declining, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The data also shows the percentage of employees who are married dropped from nearly 66% in 1979 to 52% in 2019, while the percentage of non-white US employees increased from 11.7% to 22.3%.

Pressure has three main types: "high importance, high uncertainty, and high volume," writes Michael McKinney in this review of Dane Jensen's "The Power of Pressure." The goal is to learn how to handle each situation's nuances, becoming "pressure ambidextrous" whether we're in the moment or grappling with longer-term bouts of pressure, Jensen writes.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to self-care, so it's important to figure out what works for you, experts told U.S. News & World Report. Among the possibilities, breath work is an evidence-based approach to quieting the mind, physical activity may trigger release of a hormone that supports learning and memory, and although connecting with loved ones can add meaning to life, solitude can also be beneficial, experts said.

For the uninitiated, paying it forward at Starbucks is when the person in front of you at a drive-thru location pays for your order before you get to the window. The spirit of the ritual is kindness because that person usually drives away before you get a chance to thank them. That sounds great, right? But things can get awkward when the barista then asks if you want to pay for the order of the person behind you. One pay it forward "chain" lasted for hours, but this story reveals that the practice -- which could be a case study in social pressure -- isn't always popular with the baristas.