A Life-Course Perspective on Older Workers in Workplaces Undergoing Transformative Digitalization

Abstract

Workplaces are digitalizing, which leaves many older individuals with the choice between upskilling and early retirement. How they approach this choice influences their financial well-being, the size of the workforce, and the financial sustainability of pension schemes. The present article explores how the life-course perspective can be used to explore the situation of older workers in workplaces undergoing transformative digitalization. The life-course perspective suggests that the transformative digitalization of workplaces does not change what life events older workers encounter. However, it modifies how the events affect older workers and their capabilities for striking a work-life balance. Additionally, digitalization changes life-course structures. It can lead to earlier or later retirement, which changes the length of the life phases of middle age and old age—and possibly creates new social inequalities in life courses. The effects of transformative digitalization on older workers vary across cohorts and countries, which is typical for the principle of anchoring life courses in time and place. Future research can use the present article as a guideline for which concepts may be useful in studies on older workers in digitalizing workplaces.

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