The labour market experiences of older workers have changed markedly in recent decades. Men in particular
are on average leaving work earlier. This is where flexible employment plays a role. People who lose their jobs in their 50s and 60s have found it increasingly difficult to re-establish themselves in
a career. Economic inactivity among this age group has grown, whether resulting from people taking early retirement or from
people losing their jobs and getting discouraged in the search for a new one. Many commentators have been asking whether there
are alternatives to the experience of an abrupt and perhaps premature departure from work, a form of transition that can prevent
valuable economic potential from being tapped in a period in which the younger labour force will be shrinking. Here comes
in the concept of flexible employment. (JRF, 2007)
Some of the increasing number of people leaving work before the official
pension age is likely to benefit from more flexible jobs that bridge the gap between permanent full-time work and retirement.
Research indicates that certain advantages seemed to enable some people to leave work as a positive
choice. Workers over 50 were more likely to leave jobs if they had been with their present employer for longer, and therefore
were more likely to have accumulated savings and pension entitlements. So were those who had paid off their mortgages. On
the other hand, people were more likely to leave full-time jobs if they had health problems, especially low-paid men. For
this group, ‘early retirement’ is more likely to have been the result of an inability to stay in employment, rather
than a positive choice to leave it. As men get older, the probability of leaving work increases sharply. While the researchers
did not have the data to test whether this was due to age discrimination, it is certainly consistent with that interpretation.
(http://www.jrf.org.uk/)
Women also became increasingly likely to exit employment as they got closer to state retirement
age. As with men, they were also more likely to leave if they had health problems or owned their home outright. Unlike men
however, older women were more likely to stay in permanent full-time employment if they were in relatively good jobs.
(JRF, 2007)
Outlawing age discrimination and introducing policies for flexible retirement are goals of the UK
government. “There are too many men and women in their 50s and early 60s
who would like another job, but because of age discrimination find it almost impossible to get one. There’s something
ridiculous about being told at 53 or 54 that you are too old when you have another 30 years of life ahead.” Here comes
in hand the concept of flexible employment combining a balance between work and home life through flexible working practices. (Flexibility, 2006)
To end, the development of flexible employment practices such
as job-sharing, working from home, and flexible employment is part of the approach to the management of diversity and guarantees
equal opportunities for all. (Highland, 2006)
References:
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, “The role of flexible employment
for older workers.”
Available from: http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/ findings/socialpolicy/343.asp
Flexibility, “Flexible working in an ageing society.”
Available from: http://www.flexibility.co.uk/flexwork/general/Age-discrimination.htm
The Highland Council
Available from: http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/ employment/flexibleemployment/
