The Employer’s Perspective on Retirement

Abstract

In this chapter we discuss the literature with respect to the role of employers in retirement processes of older workers and provide suggestions for future research. In the first part of this chapter we will review existing theoretical insights regarding the employers' actions and attitudes toward older workers and retirement. In the next section we will discuss empirical findings with regard to age related stereotypes in the workplace and age norms with respect to retirement and present some results form an international comparative employer study. We conclude with a section on the management of retirement processes, focussing on the exit and hiring of older workers. 3 IntroductionExtending people's working life is seen as a key element in curtailing the rising costs associated with an ageing population. In the countries of the OECD and of the European Union, a host of initiatives have been taken that aim to delay retirement and support the labour force participation of older workers (OECD 2006b). At the government level, these initiatives vary from pension reforms that limit opportunities for an early exit from the workforce to legislation against age discrimination and public campaigns to combat negative stereotyping in the workplace. At the organisational level, employers are urged to develop policies geared towards increasing the employability of older workers, for instance by means of life-long learning. However, these government initiatives may not achieve their goals if proposals and targets for extending the working life of older workers are not actively supported by employers. Vickerstaff, Cox and Keen (2003) state that any significant change in retirement behaviour will come primarily from changes in employer policies. In this article we argue that for a better understanding of older workers' career decisions we need to incorporate the driving forces of retirement processes at the demand side of the labour market. Employers are key players in defining the opportunities for retirement as well as the opportunities for working longer. As a result, the success of policies aimed at delaying retirement depend to a large extent on the actions and attitudes of employers.Although retirement has traditionally been thought of as a discrete and abrupt discontinuation of work, today's "retirement" can be characterized as a process which can take multiple forms offering the option of a gradual transition from full time work to 'full time' retirement. While some older workers are affected by processes of disengagement from work and mental withdrawal from their jobs even years before they actually retire In this article we discuss the relevant literature with respect to the role of employers in retirement processes of older workers. In the first part of this article we will review existing theoretical insights regarding the employers actions and attitudes toward older workers and retirement. In the next section we will discuss empirical findings from the Hendrikse, and Schippers 2010) point of view. These stu...

Organizations’ Ways of Employing Early Retirees: The Role of Age-Based HR Policies

“…Most studies of the employment of (early) retirees have approached bridge employment from an individual decision-making perspective and have related the type of bridge employment to individual employees' antecedents, such as health, age, and education; and outcomes, such as satisfaction in retirement and with life in general (e.g., Kim & Feldman, 2000;Wang et al, 2008). In comparatively few studies has attention been devoted to the demand side of the labor market and to the crucial role that organizations play in the process of retirement (Henkens & Van Dalen, 2012). Exceptions include the contribution of Hirshorn and Hoyer (1994), who found that almost half of the US organizations they surveyed employed retirees in the early 1990s, although only a fraction had formal policies on the employment of retirees; and the contribution of Karpinska, Henkens, and Schippers (2011), who showed in an experimental study that many managers are reluctant to hire early retirees.…”

The Prevalence and Distribution of Aging-Friendly Human Resource Practices

“…Consequently, from a policy perspective, our findings suggest that government may play an important role in developing incentives for both management and labor to reframe employment frameworks, making them more conducive to the retention of retirement-eligible workers. Taking into account the importance of managing the aging population (e.g., with regard to national pension benefits), the role played by national institutions could be a crucial one-shaping organizations willingness to take the steps needed to retain their retirement eligible older workers (Henkens & Van Dalen, 2011).…”

Retirement

“…Studies focusing on the organizational context have examined, for example, how organizational policies and supervisor support affect the transition from work into retirement. Another strand of research focuses specifically on the attitudes and behaviors of employers regarding workforce aging (Henkens and Van Dalen, 2012). Research on the country context has focused on the question of how social policy arrangements (e.g., statutory retirement age, employment protection legislation) and socioeconomic conditions (e.g., unemployment rate) affect the retirement transitions of older individuals (e.g., Ebbinghaus and Radl, 2015).…”