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Adapting to an Older Workforce: Health and the (Non) Response of Employers in an Era of Insecurity

Lookup NU author(s): Professor David Lain

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

The UK government has called for employers to make work adaptations in response to changes in health individuals may experience as they age. However, government assumptions place too much emphasis on the voluntary actions of employers and managers, without placing the management of health in a wider context. Drawing on insights from Thompson’s disconnected capitalism thesis, we explore whether financial/competitive pressures facing many private and public sector organisations today, alongside other factors, contribute to organisations not considering or implementing work adaptations. In this context, it is suggested that older workers may also hide health issues because of anxiety, or ‘ontological precarity’, regarding working longer. Qualitative case studies compare the delivery of work adaptations in three organisations: ‘Local Government’, ‘Hospitality’ and ‘Trains’. Work adaptations were only widely available in ‘Trains’; this was for a range of reasons, including the fact that Trains was relatively insulated from financial pressures and able to deliver job and financial security for older workers. As many older workers will continue to be employed by organisations similar to ‘Local Government’ and ‘Hospitality’, we argue that policy makers cannot rely solely on employers to make adaptations.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Lain D, van der Horst M, Vickerstaff S

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Social Policy

Year: 2024

Pages: epub ahead of print

Online publication date: 18/09/2024

Acceptance date: 22/06/2024

Date deposited: 29/06/2024

ISSN (print): 0047-2794

ISSN (electronic): 1469-7823

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279424000163

DOI: 10.1017/S0047279424000163


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
Economic and Social Research Council
ES/L002949/1
ES/S00551X/1

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