Abstract
This five-part volume, edited by Philip Taylor, presents a critical perspective on the changing labour market position of older workers, a topic of increasing relevance as populations in developed countries trend towards an older demographic. Professor Philip Taylor of Monash University has researched and written in the field of age and the labour market for over 20 years, addressing issues such as the management of labour supply, individual orientations to work and retirement, employers’ attitudes and practices towards older workers and international developments in public policies aimed at combating age barriers in the labour market and prolonging working life. Drawing on this breadth and depth of research, he sets the scene for the topics to be covered with an introduction to the current labour market status of older workers and consideration of what it means to retire and grow old amid changing attitudes and expectations with regard to retirement and employment.
In Part I, the contributing authors focus on the implications of public policy on the labour market position of older workers in different regions of the world and on policy reforms needed to support older workers while assuring them dignity and security. An international perspective by Sara Rix highlights lessons, both positive and negative, to be learned from the experiences of different countries’ approaches to extending working lives. Gerd Naegele and Masato Oka consider the potential wider applicability of policy initiatives in the specific cases of Germany and Japan, respectively. Citing increasing poverty and unemployment rates among older workers in Germany, Naegele criticises recent reforms aimed at making retirement more flexible for their restrictive focus on active labour market policy rather than on the broader concept of active ageing. Oka is similarly critical of the continuous employment scheme in Japan which he sees as discriminatory and offering only low-quality, bridge jobs to older workers. While acknowledging the impact of public policy reforms designed to discourage early workforce exit on increasing older worker participation rates in a number of countries, Jonas Edmund and Mikael Stattin argue that these supply-side factors are insufficient to explain variances in workforce participation rates in old age among different countries. Their analysis of age neutrality across five different labour contexts reveals some surprising results but lends some support to the importance of work conditions in understanding these variations.
The importance of redressing the waste of human capital accumulated by workers over their careers through continuing investment in human capital across working life is addressed in Part II. Harvey L. Sterns and Diane M. Spokus explore the importance of remaining productive, innovative and flexible in order to continue participating in the globalising economy. Offering insights from the information technology (IT) industry, Neil Charness addresses the issue of job security in an increasingly insecure world, while Gerard Everness and Peter Ester analyse the interdependent challenges of ageing and declining workforces, the acceleration of the globalisation process and the shift towards a knowledge-based economy. They emphasise the importance of balancing the dimensions of age, wage and productivity through continued investment in training and informal learning and the creation of employment stability through wage flexibility.
The management of ageing workforces through workplace redesign is the theme of Part III. Juhani Ilmarinen elaborates on the potential benefits of a holistic ‘work ability’ approach, which emphasises factors affecting productivity across a career. The challenges faced by IT firms in a rapidly changing business environment are the focus of Elizabeth Brooke, who observes that current youth-centric recruitment practices detract from firms developing longer term strategies for an ageing workforce. Anthony Chiva considers ways in which management can support the needs of older workers in order to enable them to work longer, while Victoria Büsch raises the issue of age bias in recruitment processes, perceived by many older workers as a major impediment to obtaining employment (Loretto and White, 2006).
In Part IV, Victor W. Marshall and Amber L. Wells critique the ambiguity of the notion of ‘generational relations’, a concept which has been widely embraced by the human management resources field. They argue that the concept is useful for understanding workforce dynamics only in a restricted sense and cite a number of reasons why they believe claims about the importance of generations in the workplace are exaggerated. These include lack of precise definitions, lack of agreement in the identification of generational cohort markers, synonymous use of the terms ‘generation’ and ‘age-group’, under-acknowledgement of variation within generations and neglect of positive consequences of generational differences. Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Christina Matz-Costa and Elysa Besen are similarly critical of ongoing attempts in the management literature to define workers according to birth cohort without regard for the many similarities between different age groups.
Part V, the final section of the volume, addresses the management of labour supply and the role older workers will play in an ageing and globalising society. Echoing concerns raised by Phillipson (2013) and Moulaert and Biggs (2013), Philip Taylor and Christopher McLoughlin question the oversight by many employers of the potential contribution of older workers to the competitive advantage of their organisations. This suggests that employment in later life may be available to only the privileged few who possess the required skills, attitudes and networks, while others, who are perhaps more in need, are consigned to uncertain employment futures. They also caution that others who have had expectations of retirement but who are forced to remain in employment due to economic circumstances may be demotivated and unproductive. Donald M. Atwater addresses the manageability of movements in labour supply and the need for employer support of older workers in the face of uncertainty and incomplete information. Stephen Little and Frank Go explore the economic potential of older worker knowledge and skills transfers and older worker mobility in a global economy. The concluding chapter by Philip Taylor reviews the themes emerging from the preceding chapters and identifies future research agendas.
The book presents useful comparative statistics on ageing labour markets and older worker employment rates and provides a comprehensive overview of critical perspectives on research and policy from a wide range of researchers in the field of ageing and work. With each chapter standing complete on its own, the book is an immensely useful reference for researchers and practitioners seeking to update themselves on policy and research in the field. Overarching themes include the importance of adopting a lifecycle-oriented approach to investment in human capital and the need to address the increasing heterogeneity of individuals’ lives through a matrix of labour market policies rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. The different perspectives presented in the book highlight the complexities involved in managing ageing workforces as well as unintended policy consequences; they also showcase successes and provide food for thought for those wishing to translate research evidence into usable solutions aimed at employers and/or policymakers. Taylor highlights the contradiction inherent in attempts to convince employers to implement age-neutral employment practices despite the age-specific focus of public policies on ‘older’ workers. He further criticises social commentators and academics for offering limited practical support to public policymakers and employers. To this end, the inclusion of case study examples of older workers in organisations would have been a welcome addition to the book and particularly of value to employers looking to draw on the practical experience of organisations that have successfully modified their practices to manage and benefit from an age-diverse workforce.