Age management for the common good
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Economic and Labour Relations Review Vol. 34, no. 1 (2023), p. 179-188
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- Description: In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and amid the present reconfiguring of corporate purpose, there is an opportunity to realign actions focused on prolonging working lives. We put forward a transformative agenda concerned with workforce ageing that aligns with contemporary expectations regarding sustainability, inequality, and emerging conceptualisations of management. In this article, the new concept of Common Good human resource management (HRM) is utilised as a potential means of encouraging business responses focused on grand challenges such as population ageing. We suggest how these principles might be applied to the issue of managing age in workplaces, to recast debate about issues of age and work, to be used as an advocacy tool encouraging employer engagement, while providing a framework that might direct organisational leadership. © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of UNSW Canberra.
The enduring myth of endemic age discrimination in the Australian labour market
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ageing and Society Vol. 43, no. 5 (2023), p. 993-1002
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- Description: It has often been stated by older people's advocates that discrimination affecting older people is commonplace and ongoing in the Australian labour market. In this article, we contrast such rhetoric with a review of evidence from recent large-scale surveys which demonstrates that low and declining numbers of Australians experience age discrimination, while highlighting the complexity of the phenomenon. We identify the emergence of a fake 'age' advocacy that is acting to the detriment of an informed public discourse concerning issues of older workers' employment. To counter this we propose five underlying principles for advocacy on ageing and work: countering myths concerning the extent and nature of age barriers in the labour market; avoiding and challenging the use of age stereotypes in making the business case for older workers' employment; recognition that age interacts in complex ways with a range of other factors in determining people's experiences of the labour market; challenging public understanding that is grounded in the notion that generational conflict is inevitable; and discarding traditional notions of the lifecourse in order to overcome disjunctions and contradictions that hamper efforts to encourage and support longer working lives. Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
After work? Understanding older women’s portfolio life transitions
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions Chapter 7 p. 111-119
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- Description: Chapter 7 reports qualitative interviews with older women about the pursuit of an active, fulfilling and productive retirement, and the mechanisms that promote these outcomes. Contrary to notions of the blended lifecycle, analysis reveals a stark division between paid work and retirement for many women at the same time as an ongoing commitment to socially valued and productive albeit unpaid activities that form a portfolio career. Furthermore , analysis reveals an increased sense of autonomy and control over decision making among retired women that contrasts with their experiences of paid employment.
Conclusion: public policy leadership and change for women’s work and retirement
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions Chapter 10 p.147-151
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- Description: With current policy concerns about shortfalls of labour supply and effects on the social welfare system due to population ageing, there is a need to understand the factors that shape women's choices about if, when and how to retire. Recent trends indicating the increased workforce participation of women demand new policy responses to the end of careers and retirement transitions to sustain acceptable levels of participation and productivity. This book is innovative in that it will examine constellations of factors that disadvantage or advantage women's career and retirement trajectories against a backdrop of public policy efforts to extend working lives.
Customizing women’s portfolio work and ‘retirement’ careers
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions Chapter 8 p. 122-134
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- Description: Chapter 8 reports qualitative interviews with older women, drawing from the concepts of biographical work-life balance and portfolio careers. It focuses on older women who were in part-time work but who self-identified as having made a transition to retirement. Many had longstanding careers and stable networks, accrued skills and financial resources, supported a well-endowed quality of portfolio lives, whereas those who experienced ‘unbalanced’ portfolio retirement were more likely to be lacking resources from their working lives. The analysis reinforces the notion that retirement should be viewed as a process and not an event and that it is impossible to tell a single story of women's post-work transitions.
Introduction: Older women and later life transitions in industrialized societies
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions p. 1-7
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- Description: With current policy concerns about shortfalls of labour supply and effects on the social welfare system due to population ageing, there is a need to understand the factors that shape women's choices about if, when and how to retire. Recent trends indicating the increased workforce participation of women demand new policy responses to the end of careers and retirement transitions to sustain acceptable levels of participation and productivity. This book is innovative in that it will examine constellations of factors that disadvantage or advantage women's career and retirement trajectories against a backdrop of public policy efforts to extend working lives.
Older women and the transition to retirement
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions Chapter 6 p. 99-110
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- Description: Chapter 6 reports older women survey respondents’ expectations about retirement; their financial preparation for retirement; and factors that pushed them out of the workforce such as declining health and poor working conditions. Older women workers demonstrated a generally positive orientation to retirement. However, financial preparedness was a concern, with a significant proportion reporting that their understanding of their superannuation was poor. Findings with regards to self-esteem and social contact point to the need to support older women in building post-work identity and structures outside of work.
Older women in labour market transitions: leaving, looking for and moving into work
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions Chapter 5 p. 85-98
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: With current policy concerns about shortfalls of labour supply and effects on the social welfare system due to population ageing, there is a need to understand the factors that shape women's choices about if, when and how to retire. Recent trends indicating the increased workforce participation of women demand new policy responses to the end of careers and retirement transitions to sustain acceptable levels of participation and productivity. This book is innovative in that it will examine constellations of factors that disadvantage or advantage women's career and retirement trajectories against a backdrop of public policy efforts to extend working lives.
Older women workers in Australia: the study
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Chapter 3 p. 53-69
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- Description: This book reports on a large mixed-methods project Retiring Women: Understanding Older Female Work-Life Transitions funded by the AUstralian Research Council and three industry partners. The project aimed to explore, firstly, transitios into, within and out of the labour market from the perspectives of older women workers, their employers and industry stake-holders across three industry sectors, and secondly, the development of policy related to the recruitment and retention of such workers in the Australian workforce.
Older women, public policy and work
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions Chapter 1 p. 7-45
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- Description: With current policy concerns about shortfalls of labour supply and effects on the social welfare system due to population ageing, there is a need to understand the factors that shape women's choices about if, when and how to retire. Recent trends indicating the increased workforce participation of women demand new policy responses to the end of careers and retirement transitions to sustain acceptable levels of participation and productivity. This book is innovative in that it will examine constellations of factors that disadvantage or advantage women's career and retirement trajectories against a backdrop of public policy efforts to extend working lives.
Older women’s experiences of working
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions Chapter 4 p. 70-83
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- Description: Chapter 4 reports the experiences of older women survey respondents in terms of job satisfaction, work-life balance, perceptions of working hours and what determined these, perceptions of treatment by managers and co-workers, perceptions of labour market age barriers, and participation in skills development activities. The findings are indicative of relatively benign workplace environments. Job satisfaction was high and women generally appeared able to juggle work and other responsibilities. Working hours were a concern for some women, particularly those in casualized employment. Participation in learning and development activities declined with age and was more common among those with higher skill levels. Workplace discrimination was not a major feature of the experiences of these women.
Public policy, ageing and work, and longer working lives
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Chapter 2 p. 46-56
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: With current policy concerns about shortfalls of labour supply and effects on the social welfare system due to population ageing, there is a need to understand the factors that shape women's choices about if, when and how to retire. Recent trends indicating the increased workforce participation of women demand new policy responses to the end of careers and retirement transitions to sustain acceptable levels of participation and productivity. This book is innovative in that it will examine constellations of factors that disadvantage or advantage women's career and retirement trajectories against a backdrop of public policy efforts to extend working lives.
Teachers as older women workers: stakeholder comments
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , Brooke, Elizabeth , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Retiring women : work and post work transitions Chapter 9 p. 136-146
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- Description: Chapter 9 explores conceptions older workers, drawing from interviews with human resources managers and expert stakeholders. Analysis revealed pervasive discrimination based on age and gender and a lack of recognition of the diversity of older workers. They are generally understood in essentialized terms as a single group sharing certain stereotypical attributes. An essentialized discourse of decline underpins representations of older workers. It is argued that the idea of the older worker needs to be problematized.
Future-making tactics : exploring middle-class living and green practices in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Authors: Earl, Catherine
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ethnos Vol. 85, no. 3 (2020), p. 454-470
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- Description: Practices of environmental sustainability in Vietnam are not new, although these may align to managing austerity and rural living. In Ho Chi Minh City, tactics deployed by middle-class professionals shaping their futures involve conscious choices about transport, manual labour, consumption, and relations with the natural world for a more sustainable city. Such choices are constrained by frictions, such as lacking capital or rejecting globalised phenomena. Drawing on sensory anthropology and new mobilities, firstly, I argue that focusing on place-specific values may overlook pervasive influences of rurality and globalisation on relations that transform urban living unevenly and unequally. Secondly, I propose that it is not simply the ‘hard’ built environment that offers a resource in articulation and materialisation of transitions to more sustainable and liveable urban places. The discussion reveals that middle-class desires to experience comfortable living shape tactics that, while mitigating uncertainty or demonstrating resilience, are not simply individual choices. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
"Regardless of age" : Australian university managers' attitudes and practices towards older academics
- Authors: Earl, Catherine , Taylor, Philip , Cannizzo, Fabian
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Work, Aging and Retirement Vol. 4, no. 3 (2018), p. 300-313
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- Description: As with other industrialized nations Australia's population is aging and older workers are encouraged to work for longer. At the same time, Australia's university sector, which is aging, is being reconfigured through changes that potentially marginalize its older workers as higher education institutions try to become more competitive in a global market. In this context, youthfulness appears to embody competitiveness and academic institutions are increasingly aspiring to a young workforce profile. This qualitative article builds on previous research to explore to what extent ageist assumptions shape attitudes to older workers and human resource management (HRM) practices within Australian universities even when HRM practitioners are well versed in antidiscrimination legislation that (unlike the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in the United States) applies to workers of all ages. Semistructured interviews conducted with 22 HRM practitioners in Australian universities reveal that university HRM practices generally overlook the value of retaining an older workforce by conflating "potential" with "youthfulness," assuming that staff potential and performance share a negative correlation with age. While mostly lower-ranked institutions have attempted to retain older academics to maintain an adequate labor supply, this study finds that university policies targeting the ongoing utilization of older workers generally are underdeveloped. Consequently, the availability of late career employment arrangements is dependent upon institutions' strategic goals, with favorable ad hoc solutions offered to academics with outstanding performance records, while a rhetoric of performance decline threatens to marginalize older academic researchers and teachers more generally.
Everyday discrimination in the Australian workplace : Assessing its prevalence and age and gender differences
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , McLoughlin, Christopher , Earl, Catherine
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australasian Journal on Ageing Vol. 37, no. 4 (2018), p. 245-251
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- Description: Objective: This study aimed to increase understanding of the nature and prevalence of discriminatory experiences in the workplace, focusing on issues of age and gender. Methods: The concept of everyday discrimination was operationalised in a survey of a representative sample of Australian workers. Results: It was observed that overall, experiences of everyday discrimination were rare. Among men, such experiences declined with age, whereas for women almost no age differences were observed. Conclusion: It is argued that the nature of labour market age barriers has been misunderstood and the extent of discrimination faced by older workers possibly overstated.
Freedom to choose? Marriage and professional work among urban middle-class women in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Authors: Earl, Catherine
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Women of Asia: Globalization, Development, and Gender Equity Chapter 17 p. 236-247
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- Description: This chapter presents a theoretical framework derived from classic Bourdieusian sociology, modified with feminist, cultural, and globalization theories. The discussion draws on ethnographic fieldwork, comprising participant observation among urban middle-class women in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 2000 to 2015. The chapter considers the women's stories as the interconnected stories of sisters whose futures are entangled with their natal families as well as their (future) husband's families. Their stories illustrate the massive impact of globalization on women of Vietnam, and how this plays out differentially in processes of development and social change in urban middle-class women's lives. This occurs particularly in the context of choices about professional work and marriage in achieving desires for normative social status, as well as in meeting desires for upward social mobility and a secure future in post-reform Vietnam. The chapter draws on the interpretation in analyzing choice-making in urban middle-class Vietnamese women's lives. © 2019 Taylor & Francis.
Reconceptualising work-retirement transitions: Critiques of the new retirement and bridge employment
- Authors: Earl, Catherine , Taylor, Philip
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Ageing, Organisations and Management : Constructive Discourses and Critical Perspectives Chapter 15 p. 323-344
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- Description: There is an extensive and growing research literature, particularly in the psychology and management disciplines, concerning ‘bridge employment’ which, it is argued, is increasingly occurring between the end of a career job and full retirement. However, this area is undertheorised and lacking a long view in terms of an appreciation of the wider literature concerned with work and retirement, in particular being informed by the political economy and lifecourse perspectives. Bridging the gap between work and retirement is of current concern as governments push out the ages at which people work and retire, with retirement, once considered the moral foundation of social welfare systems, being refashioned as a kind of unemployment. This chapter takes a critical stance on what we describe as the new retirement and the concept of bridge employment, questioning the motives for the emergence of the former and the latter’s utility for researchers and policymakers as a lens through which to view the evolution of work–retirement transitions.
The workforce demographic shift and the changing nature of work : implications for policy, productivity, and participation
- Authors: Earl, Catherine , Taylor, Philip , Roberts, Chris , Huynh, Patrick , Davis, Simon
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Age Diversity in the Workplace : an organizational perspective p. 3-34
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- Description: Population ageing, coupled with economic uncertainty and a shifting workforce structure, has directed the attention of public and organizational policy makers toward the potential contribution of older workers and skilled migrants in meeting labor supply shortages in ageing populations. This chapter presents labor supply and demand scenarios for 10 OECD countries and examines trends in the labor force participation of older workers against the backdrop of changes to the nature of work in an era of globalization, casualization, and, increasingly, automation. Brief analysis of each country's situation and policy responses indicates that China, Japan, and Korea stand out as being at particular risk of being unable to maintain growth without undertaking drastic action, although their areas of focus need to differ. A limitation of the study is that GDP projections used in labor demand analysis were based on historical rates and represented past potential and a long-run average of historic economic output. Future research might also undertake comparative analysis of case studies addressing different potential solutions to workforce ageing. A key implication of the study is that there is a need to take a blended approach to public policy regarding older workers in a changing labor market. Where migration has historically been a source of labor supplementation, this may become a less viable avenue over the near future. Future shortfalls in labor imply that economies will increasingly need to diversify their sources of workers in order to maintain economic growth. For public policy makers the challenge will be to overcome public antipathy to migration and longer working lives. Copyright © 2017 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
Australian employer usage of the practice of offering reduced working hours to workers close to retirement : Extent and determinants
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Earl, Catherine , McLoughlin, Christopher
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australasian Journal on Ageing Vol. 35, no. 2 (2016), p. E13-E17
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- Description: Aim: This study aimed to determine factors associated with the implementation by employers of the practice of offering reduced working hours for workers nearing retirement. Methods: Data came from a survey of 2000 employers of more than 50 employees each (30% response rate). Results: A minority (33%) of employers offered reduced working hours to older workers nearing retirement. Factors associated with offering reduced working hours were: expecting workforce ageing to cause a loss of staff to retirement; being a large employer; being a public/not-for-profit sector employer; not experiencing difficulties recruiting labourers; having a larger proportion of workers aged over 50; experiencing national competition for labour; not experiencing difficulties recruiting machinery operators/drivers; not expecting workforce ageing to increase workplace injuries; and experiencing difficulties with the quality of candidates. Conclusion: A minority of employers were found to offer reduced working hours to those nearing retirement. Factors associated with their propensity to do so included industry sector, size of employer, concerns about labour supply and the effects of workforce ageing. © 2016 AJA Inc.