Swedish Collective Agreements and Employers’ Willingness to Hire and Retain Older Workers in Employment

Demographic change is transforming the EU population structure for the coming decades. One challenge that society faces is to preserve social welfare when elderly persons comprise a larger proportion of the total population. Allowing people to work beyond the current retirement age may help slow the growth of the maintenance burden for welfare costs, and creating situations where larger numbers of older employees can work longer and complete more working hours can improve conditions for preserving and developing welfare. However, a prolonged working life presupposes several conditions; one of these is that legal regulation of the labor market must support employers’ willingness to hire and retain older workers in employment. This article explores employers’ attitudes toward regulations in Swedish collective agreements—regulations which are of particular importance if employers are to increase hiring and retention of older workers in employment.

Download Full-text

The rise of working pensioners: the Swedish case

Nordic Tax Journal ◽

10.1515/ntaxj-2016-0003 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 (1) ◽

pp. 41-66

Author(s):

Lennart Flood ◽

Nizamul Islam

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Older Workers ◽

Working Hours ◽

Economic Reforms ◽

Economic Incentives ◽

Market Work ◽

Age Dependency ◽

Fiscal Impact ◽

Employment Rates ◽

The Eu

Abstract According to the Eurostat the old-age dependency (people aged 65 or above relative to those aged 15- 64) in the EU will rise from 28% in 2010 to 58% in 2060. During the same period total hours works are projected to fall contributing to a low projected economic growth over the next half-century. In this paper we argue that this gloomy picture might be challenged by an increase in the employment rates of older workers. Using Sweden as an illustration we show that the ratio of individuals with income from both pension and market work has increased strongly during the last decade. During the same period economic reforms have been introduced creating economic incentives in order to delay the exit from the labor market. In this paper we demonstrate the importance of these economic reforms in explaining increased working hours. The paper also evaluates the fiscal impact of the increase in the employment rates.

Download Full-text

Arbeidsvoorwaarden en de gewenste pensioenleeftijd

Gedrag & Organisatie ◽

10.5117/2011.024.004.412 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Marianne van Zwieten ◽

Jan Fekke Ybema ◽

Goedele Geuskens

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Working Conditions ◽

Working Hours ◽

Retirement Age ◽

Older Employees ◽

Flexible Working Hours ◽

Flexible Working ◽

Time Work ◽

Part Time ◽

Part Time Work

Terms of employment and the preferred retirement age Terms of employment and the preferred retirement age The present study examines how the satisfaction with the terms of employment among older employees affects the preferred retirement age. Two waves of data collection (2008 and 2009) of the cohort-study of the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey (NWCS) were used for this study. The results of this longitudinal study showed that satisfaction with terms of employment that concern flexibility (e.g. flexible working hours and the possibilities for part-time work) contribute to a higher preferred retirement age. It also contributes to not specifying the preferred retirement age. This means that employees who are satisfied with the flexibility in their jobs more often do not know at what age they prefer to retire than employees who are not satisfied, but if they do know they report a higher preferred retirement age. By arranging flexibility in the job together with and to the satisfaction of employees, employees can be stimulated to postpone retirement.

Download Full-text

Employees’ Longer Working Lives in Europe: Drivers and Barriers in Companies

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17051658 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

pp. 1658

Author(s):

Andrea Principi ◽

Jürgen Bauknecht ◽

Mirko Di Rosa ◽

Marco Socci

Keyword(s):

Working Conditions ◽

Older Workers ◽

Early Retirement ◽

Working Life ◽

Retirement Age ◽

European Level ◽

The Public ◽

Working Lives ◽

Market Factors ◽

Legal Retirement Age

This paper identifies, within companies’ sectors of activity, predictors of Human Resource (HR) policies to extend working life (EWL) in light of increasing policy efforts at the European level to extend working life. Three types of EWL practices are investigated: the prevention of early retirement (i.e., encouraging employees to continue working until the legal retirement age); delay of retirement (i.e., encouraging employees to continue working beyond the legal retirement age); and, recruitment of employees who are already retired (i.e., unretirement). A sample of 4624 European organizations that was stratified by size and sector is analyzed in six countries. The main drivers for companies’ EWL practices are the implementation of measures for older workers to improve their performance, their working conditions, and to reduce costs. In industry, the qualities and skills of older workers could be more valued than in other sectors, while the adoption of EWL practices might be less affected by external economic and labor market factors in the public sector. Dutch and Italian employers may be less prone than others to extend working lives. These results underline the importance of raising employers’ awareness and increase their actions to extend employees’ working lives by adopting age management initiatives, especially in SMEs, and in the services and public sectors.

Download Full-text

Do earnings really decline for older workers?

International Journal of Manpower ◽

10.1108/ijm-02-2016-0043 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 4-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kadija Charni ◽

Stephen Bazen

Keyword(s):

Panel Data ◽

Cross Section ◽

Older Workers ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Working Hours ◽

Working Life ◽

Job Tenure ◽

Content Type ◽

Section Data ◽

Cross Section Profile

Purpose Cross-section data suggest that the relationship between age and hourly earnings is an inverted U shape. Evidence from panel data does not necessarily confirm this finding suggesting that older workers may not experience a reduction in earnings at the end of their working life. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach In this paper the authors use panel data on males for Great Britain in order to examine why the two types of data provide conflicting conclusions. Concentrating on the over 50s, several hypotheses are examined: overlapping cohorts, job tenure, job-changing, labour supply behaviour, and selectivity bias. Findings Cohort and individual fixed effects partly explain the divergent conclusions. However, for fully, year-on-year employed individuals, there is no evidence of earnings decline at the end of working life. The authors find no role for selectivity due to retirement, although shorter working hours or partial retirement along with job-changing late in life does provide an explanation for why hourly earnings decline for certain older workers. Originality/value The authors find no evidence that the process of ageing itself leads to lower earnings as suggested by the cross-section profile.

Download Full-text

An ageing nursing workforce

Australian Health Review ◽

10.1071/ah09684 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 44 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Elizabeth M. Graham ◽

Christine Duffield

Keyword(s):

Government Policy ◽

Baby Boomer ◽

Working Life ◽

Current Status ◽

Nursing Workforce ◽

Retirement Age ◽

Retention Strategies ◽

Older Employees ◽

Functional Capabilities ◽

The Impact

There are well documented workforce shortages in nursing. Many strategies have been suggested to resolve the issue, including increasing migration or training places, changing skill mix or nurses’ roles, redesigning nursing work, and greater use of unregulated or unlicensed workers. One of the contributing and growing factors is the ageing of the workforce, but methods of retaining older employees have been given very little attention. This paper examines the impact of ageing on individuals, the ageing nursing workforce and the implications for government policy given its current status. What is known about the topic?A generation of ‘baby boomer’ nurses are reaching retirement age. The nursing workforce is in crisis due to there being less entrants to the workforce as a result of lower birth rates, wider choices of career, and nurses leaving the profession for less stressful, more satisfying jobs. What does this paper add?This paper outlines the necessity for the employment of retention strategies for older nurses in the workforce. It dispels myths about the functional capabilities of ageing nurses. What are the implications for practitioners?Health managers should canvass ageing nurses to discover strategies that would encourage them to extend their working life. Only then could it become feasible to plan practical solutions to ease the global nursing shortage.

Download Full-text

Strong Labour Market Inequality of Opportunities at the Workplace for Supporting a Long and Healthy Work-Life: The SeniorWorkingLife Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16183264 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (18) ◽

pp. 3264 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Lars L. Andersen ◽

Per H. Jensen ◽

Annette Meng ◽

Emil Sundstrup

Keyword(s):

Labour Market ◽

Work Ability ◽

Older Workers ◽

Working Hours ◽

Working Life ◽

Further Education ◽

Vulnerable Groups ◽

Physical Work ◽

Access To Treatment ◽

State Pension

Most European countries are gradually increasing the state pension age, but this may run counter to the capabilities and wishes of older workers. The objective of this study is to identify opportunities in the workplace for supporting a prolonged working life in different groups in the labour market. A representative sample of 11,200 employed workers ≥ 50 years responded to 15 questions in random order about opportunities at their workplace for supporting a prolonged working life. Respondents were stratified based on the Danish version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). Using frequency and logistic regression procedures combined with model-assisted weights based on national registers, results showed that the most common opportunities at the workplace were possibilities for more vacation, reduction of working hours, flexible working hours, access to treatment, further education and physical exercise. However, ISCO groups 5–9 (mainly physical work and shorter education) had in general poorer access to these opportunities than ISCO groups 1–4 (mainly seated work and longer education). Women had poorer access than men, and workers with reduced work ability had poorer access than those with full work ability. Thus, in contrast with actual needs, opportunities at the workplace were lower in occupations characterized by physical work and shorter education, among women and among workers with reduced work ability. This inequality poses a threat to prolonging working life in vulnerable groups in the labour market.

Download Full-text

Quality of Working Life among 50+ Employees across the EU: A Double Jeopardy for Croatian Older Workers

Drustvena istrazivanja ◽

10.5559/di.28.1.04 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 69-87 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zvonimir Galić ◽

◽

Maja Parmač Kovačić ◽

Maja Vehovec Vehovec ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Workers ◽

Working Life ◽

Double Jeopardy ◽

Quality Of Working Life ◽

The Eu

Download Full-text

The Netherworld between Work and Retirement

Social Policy and Society ◽

10.1017/s147474641600021x ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 625-636 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Michael McGann ◽

Helen Kimberley ◽

Dina Bowman ◽

Simon Biggs

Keyword(s):

Labour Market ◽

Older Workers ◽

Working Life ◽

Retirement Age ◽

Major Theme ◽

Narrative Interviews ◽

Social Gerontology ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Part Time

A major theme within social gerontology is how retirement ‘is being re-organised, if not undone’. Institutional supports for retirement are weakening, with pension ages rising in many countries. Increasing numbers of older workers are working past traditional retirement age on a part-time or self-employed basis, and a growing minority are joining the ranks of the long-term unemployed. Drawing upon narrative interviews with older Australians who are involuntarily non-employed or underemployed, this article explores how the ‘unravelling’ of retirement is experienced by a group of older workers on the periphery of the labour market. While policy makers hope that higher pension ages will lead to a longer period of working life, the risk is that older workers, especially those experiencing chronic insecurity in the labour market, will be caught in a netherworld between work and retirement.

Download Full-text

Older workers’ evaluations of the political goal to extend working life: Discursive approach to the “attitude problem”

Journal of Social and Political Psychology ◽

10.5964/jspp.6447 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 236-254

Author(s):

Miira Niska ◽

Pirjo Nikander

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Older Workers ◽

Working Life ◽

Population Ageing ◽

The Political ◽

Retirement Age ◽

The European Union ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Individual Preferences ◽

Working Lives

Population ageing presents major challenges to the welfare system across the European Union. Consequently, emphasizing delayed retirement age and extended working lives abound in political discussions. Researchers have recognized numerous problems, which make the extended working life a challenging political task. One of these problems are citizens’ negative attitudes toward delayed retirement and extended working life. In this paper, we approach this “attitude problem” from the perspective of discursive social psychology and analyze the variation in the way aspirations to extend working lives are evaluated by older workers. The data analyzed in the study consists of interviews where participants between 50 and 65 years of age comment on the political goal to extend working lives. The article sheds light on the “attitude problem” by turning the attention from underlying individual preferences to discursive resources used to undermine the political goal and the situational functions these evaluative practices have.

Download Full-text