Taking age out of the workplace: putting older workers back in?

Roberts, Ian

doi:10.1177/0950017006061274

Cited by 56 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…As prophesised within Gidden's framework, this responsibility for the self by the self becomes an increasingly legitimised practice in society, often to the detriment of individuals who may be disadvantaged. This of course relates to Roberts' (2006) concern over the individualism which is inherent within new capitalist discourses where older workers are introduced into a system that simultaneously distances age or cumulative knowledge and where we become responsible for our own multiple-career paths and individual competency, trends that increase the legitimisation of our own sense of self-responsibility.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identity work and the `unemployed' worker: age, disability and the lived experience of the older unemployed

Riach

Loretto

2009

Work, Employment and Society

121

113

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This article seeks to explore how older individuals negotiate and manage their selfidentity in relation to work whilst situated outwith paid employment. After reviewing the current positions of the older unemployed in the UK, noting the substantial overlap between age and disability, we turn our attention to conceptualising the lived experiences of individuals through exploring 'identity work' as a means of understanding a non-working work identity. Based upon focus group interviews, our empirical analysis focuses on key dimensions of participants' identity practice and how they sought to manage the following social processes: imposed identities, crafting working identities; and contesting unfavourable working identities. The conclusion contextualises the findings against a backdrop of increasing individualistic discourses underpinning approaches to employability, closing with the policy implications arising from this study, and making suggestions for future research agendas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identity work and the `unemployed' worker: age, disability and the lived experience of the older unemployed

Riach

Loretto

2009

Work, Employment and Society

121

113

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“…There is an increased interest in older workers within the literature on work and employment (Roberts, 2006), however, existing accounts tend not to follow the same 20 cohort of workers through their lifecourse or, alternatively, they rely on respondents reconstructing their past working lives from memory (Vickerstaff, 2003). Where longitudinal studies have been used they tend not to encompass both labour market entry and exit, for example, the respondents in the National Child Development Study are not yet in a position to contemplate labour market exit.…”

Section: Whatever Happened To the Young Workers ?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuity and change in the experiences of transition from school to work

Goodwin

O’Connor

2007

International Journal of Lifelong Education

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Using previously unanalysed data from Norbert Elias's lost study of young workers in Leicester -the Adjustment of Young Workers to Work Situations and Adult Roles (1962-1964), and data from a subsequent restudy of the same respondents in [2003][2004][2005], this paper focuses on three main themes. First, we critically examine the concept of transition as it is currently used in education and youth research. We argue that the vast majority of what is written about the transition process focuses upon how the process has changed over time. However such approaches, whilst clearly documenting important aspects of social change, ignore and underestimate continuities and similarities in the young peoples' experiences of transition, regardless of their spatial and temporal location. For example, despite significant labour market changes in the UK, young people still have to make the transition from full-time education to whatever follows next, be it employment, unemployment or further and higher education. Finally, the impact of these early transition experiences on subsequent careers are also examined as revealed in the life history interviews of the restudy. Despite a drastically changing local labour market, and the fact that most of the workers were no longer working in the industries of their youth, the analysis reveals the sample retained a strong sense of occupational identity based on their initial transition experiences.The paper concludes by highlighting the significance of the findings of this particular data set. The data is unique because it provides a rare insight of the outcomes of decisions made by school leavers some forty years ago on their experiences of the labour market. As such it provides an invaluable glimpse of the lasting impact of the school to work transition on individual working lives.

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“…The elimination of mandatory retirement creates some real dilemmas in the transition from work to retirement that deserve further analysis. In an insightful analysis, Roberts (2006) argues that it will not be easy to eliminate the existing intergenerational exchange system while at the same time encourage older workers to remain after retirement. Roberts argues for a fundamental re-look at the nature of work contracts in what he terms the development of the "new capitalism".…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The HR Management Perspective on the Elimination of Mandatory Retirement in Ontario

Templer¹,

Armstrong‐Stassen²

2008

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Effective as of December, 2006, an end to mandatory retirement was legislated in Ontario. Prior to this move, some employers and labour organizations were opposed to eliminating mandatory retirement and expressed concern about the negative impact such a move would have on business and on individual workers. This exploratory descriptive study examines HR managers’ (N = 415) perceptions of the impact of the elimination of mandatory retirement in Ontario. Compared with HR managers in organizations not practicing mandatory retirement, HR managers in organizations with a mandatory retirement policy reported their organization had significantly fewer HR practices in place tailored to older employees and would be significantly more likely to respond to the elimination of mandatory retirement by implementing new HR practices or by modifying existing HR practices.Dans le passé, la retraite obligatoire était un aspect accepté de la réalité des ressources humaines (RH), associé à un contrat de travail implicite à l’intérieur duquel les travailleurs plus jeunes voulaient bien différer les bénéfices d’une rémunération immédiate et attendre les emplois disponibles suite aux prises de retraite prévues. De plus, plusieurs entreprises avaient retenu des modèles de dépréciation du capital humain faisant en sorte que la valeur des employés atteigne son sommet tôt dans la carrière pour diminuer graduellement tout au long de la carrière. Les perspectives des étapes de la carrière au sein de ce modèle affichaient habituellement une corrélation entre l’âge chronologique et des « stades » particuliers, impliquant une phase de cheminement finale, au sein de laquelle les attentes de performance diminuée étaient acceptées en retenant l’hypothèse d’une date fixe de retraite. De plus, la pratique de la retraite obligatoire était tenue pour acquise dans l’exercice de planification des systèmes de rémunération et d’avantages sociaux s’appliquant aux salariés. Par opposition, le modèle de maintien en emploi des ressources humaines considère tous les salariés comme des actifs renouvelables dans lesquels il est valable d’investir tout au long de leur carrière dans l’entreprise et, par conséquent, il ne comporte pas d’âge déterminé pour la retraite.La mise en oeuvre d’une loi interdisant la retraite obligatoire en Ontario a changé la situation de l’emploi et soulève la question suivante : comment les gestionnaires des ressources humaines perçoivent-ils ce changement et quels résultats leurs entreprises cherchent-elles à atteindre dans leur effort de planification des RH ? Cet essai fait état des conclusions d’une étude réalisée en 2005, qui cherchait à identifier la manière dont ces gestionnaires (N = 415), à l’emploi d’une panoplie d’organisations de cette province, envisageaient la suppression imminente de la retraite obligatoire et l’effet qu’une telle action aurait sur leur entreprise. Cette étude se veut une coupe instantanée des intentions des entreprises de l’Ontario, au moment où on s’apprêtait à mettre en vigueur la loi prohibant la retra...

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Taking age out of the workplace: putting older workers back in?

Cited by 56 publications

References 14 publications

Identity work and the `unemployed' worker: age, disability and the lived experience of the older unemployed

Identity work and the `unemployed' worker: age, disability and the lived experience of the older unemployed

Continuity and change in the experiences of transition from school to work

The HR Management Perspective on the Elimination of Mandatory Retirement in Ontario

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