Managing older workers during a period of tight labour supply
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , McLoughlin, Christopher , Brooke, Elizabeth , Di Biase, Tia , Steinberg, Margaret
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ageing & Society Vol. 33, no. 1 (2013), p. 16-43
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This article reports on a recent survey of employer attitudes and policies towards older workers in Australia at a time of sustained economic growth and ongoing concerns about labour shortages. Findings from a survey of 590 employers with more than 50 employees in the State of Queensland point to an unusually strong orientation towards the recruitment of older workers among respondents, although the retraining of older workers is not prioritised by the majority. The issue of workforce ageing is viewed as being of medium-term importance by the majority of respondents, although for a substantial number the issue is of immediate concern. Both sector and organisation size are predictive of the application of a broad range of policies targeting older workers, with public-sector and larger organisations more likely to be active. Concerns about workforce ageing and labour supply are predictive of employer behaviours regarding older workers, suggesting that sustained policy making may be emerging in response to population ageing over and above more immediate concerns about labour shortages and that this broad thrust of organisational policy making may be immune to the point in the economic cycle. This study found no evidence that the flexible firm will not countenance an ageing workforce.
Managing the working body: active ageing and limits to the 'flexible' firm
- Authors: Brooke, Elizabeth , Taylor, Philip , McLoughlin, Christopher , Di Biase, Tia
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ageing & Society Vol. 33, no. 8 (2013), p. 1295-1314
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Workforce ageing is considered in the context of four Australian employing organisations which are each in the process of change. In these organisations, perceptions regarding the relationship between the declining body and productivity led to a depreciation of the value of older workers and their consignment to less productive edges of organisations. While this was viewed as benefiting older workers, it was also acknowledged that workforce ageing will place severe constraints on the use of such practices, already regarded with suspicion by operational managers responsible for cost containment. Policies which aim to restrain biological and psychological decline, by supporting individual functional capacity and health, workplace design and ergonomics and developing the work community are advocated.
European employers policies concerning career management and learning from a life-span perspective
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Brooke, Elizabeth , Di Biase, Tia
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Soziale Lebenslaufpolitik p. 474-497
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This chapter considers the characteristics of employer practices concerning age management, with specific reference to career management and learning among European employers. Using data collected for a recent European study of employer behaviour regarding workforce ageing we conceptualise the policy approach in organizations and how this is manifested in the experiences of employees. The chapter begins by examining recent changes in the way career management and learning are viewed, particularly the shift away from conceptualisations based on the notion that career management and learning are the prerogative of the young towards a perspective based on a more inclusive notion of career management learning taking place at different transition points in the lifecycle.
European employers policies concerning career management and learning from a life-span perspective
- Authors: Taylor, Philip , Brooke, Elizabeth , Di Biase, Tia
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Soziale Lebenslaufpolitik p. 474-497
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This chapter considers the characteristics of employer practices concerning age management, with specific reference to career management and learning among European employers. Using data collected for a recent European study of employer behaviour regarding workforce ageing we conceptualise the policy approach in organizations and how this is manifested in the experiences of employees. The chapter begins by examining recent changes in the way career management and learning are viewed, particularly the shift away from conceptualisations based on the notion that career management and learning are the prerogative of the young towards a perspective based on a more inclusive notion of career management learning taking place at different transition points in the lifecycle.