Older workforce management through active aging frameworks: case studies of challenges and implications in Thailand and China

Purpose This study explores how active aging frameworks such as the active aging index (AAI), manage older workforces in rural Thailand and China. It examines the implications and limitations of using the AAI to oversee and quantify aging populations in low-income agrarian contexts, with a focus on managing older adults as a strategic labor resource. Design/methodology/approach Participatory action research is done in Talat Mai, Thailand, with 400 survey participants and 58 participants engaged in qualitative engagement. A dataset from Qixian County, Henan Province, China (n = 625) is also analyzed in addition to a Scopus literature search. Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality is used to explain how AAI mechanisms impact older adult labor participation, self-perception and local development roles. Findings In Thailand, the AAI supports community-based assessment of older adult capacity to work informally, guiding localized intervention strategies. In China, institutionalized AAI use and its adoption in the active aging scale enhance workforce-related planning and demographic targeting. However, both contexts reveal gaps in cultural fit, digital literacy and a risk of standardizing aging through labor-centric norms. Originality/value This paper reframes the AAI as a policy instrument for aging and a device for workforce governance and older staff management by aligning aging policy with labor strategy. Comparing two culturally distinct rural settings reveals how international aging metrics converge with national agendas and local labor conditions, reshaping the roles of older economic contributors.