单选题 In 1997, 25 Japanese citizens, all older than 60, launched Jeeba (the name means "old man and old woman") to make senior-friendly products. They knew they were making history when they coined their company motto: "Of the elderly, by the elderly and for the elderly." They do not hire young people, and the oldest of their workers is 75.
Firms run by senior citizens are still a rarity, in Japan and worldwide. But the elderly have numbers on their side. Healthier and longer-living seniors, born immediately after World War Ⅱ, are reaching retirement age in huge numbers all over the developed world. Extremely low birthrates in those same countries mean there are far fewer young workers to take their place. One likely consequence is now clear: shrinking work forces.
While the streamlining effects of international competition are focusing attention on the need to create and keep good jobs, those fears will eventually give way to worries about the growing shortage of young workers. One unavoidable solution: putting older people back to work, whether they like it or not. Indeed, advanced economies like those of Finland and Denmark have already raised their retirement ages. Others are under severe pressure to follow suit, as both the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have recently warned their members that their future prosperity depends on a growing contribution from the elderly.
Whether these changes are good or bad news to workers depends on whether they anticipate retirement with eagerness or dread. In the United States, half of working-age Americans now expect to work into their 70s, whether by financial necessity or by lifestyle choice, according to a new study by Putnam Investments.
Contrary to still widespread assumptions, there is very little hard evidence to suggest that companies cannot stay competitive with a rising share of older workers. At British hardware chain B&Q, its "elder worker" stores in Manchester and Exmouth were 18 percent more profitable than its regular outlets—due in part, the company says, to six times less employee turnover and 60 percent less shoplifting and breakage.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。从文章第三段第一、二句话：“While the stream-lining effects of international competition are focusing attention on the need to create and keep good jobs, those fears will eventually give way to worries about the growing shortage of young workers. One unavoidable solution: putting older people back to work, whether they like it or not.”和最后一句话：“...their future prosperity depends on a growing contribution from the elderly.”可知，对创造和维持好工作需求的担忧最终会转变为对日益缺少的年轻劳动力的担心，对此担心的解决方法就是需要让老年人回到工作岗位，公司未来的发展繁荣依赖于老年人的不断贡献，由此可推测，在当前形势下，公司面临的严峻任务就是雇佣退休的员工，故选B。