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The Ageing Workforce: Employers' Attitudes towards Older People

Author

Listed:
  • Philip E. Taylor

    (Policy Studies Institute, London)

  • Alan Walker

    (Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield)

Abstract

This article reports the results of a national postal survey of employers' attitudes and policies towards older workers supported by the ESRC. The survey's key findings are discussed in the context of the declining labour force participation of older people over the last twenty years and the recent turnaround in official and some employer attitudes towards this group. Findings of particular importance are those relating to the sectoral differences in employers' orientations towards older workers, such as the larger proportion of those in the production and construction than in the service sectors who were using early retirement schemes and the differences in strategic responses to the ageing workforce, with the service sector leading production, construction and manufacturing; the impact of employers' perceptions of older workers' lack of appropriate skills which, when coupled with figures illustrating the lack of access of older people to both official and employer training programmes, suggests a self-fulfilling prophecy; and the surprising support given by employers for anti-age discrimination legislation. Data from the survey are also used to test the model put forward by Atkinson (1989) suggesting that employers' policies develop incrementally. The article concludes by arguing that the educative approach favoured by the government is not likely to have a significant impact on the employment prospects of older workers. Therefore this group is likely to be increasingly confined to a choice between low-skill/low-wage jobs in the service sector or non-employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip E. Taylor & Alan Walker, 1994. "The Ageing Workforce: Employers' Attitudes towards Older People," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 8(4), pages 569-591, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:8:y:1994:i:4:p:569-591
    DOI: 10.1177/095001709484005
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    Cited by:

    1. Werner Eichhorst & Tito Boeri & Michela Braga & An de Coen & Galasso Vicenzo & Maarten Gerard & Michael J. Kendzia & Christine Mayrhuber & Jakob Louis Pedersen & Ricarda Schmidl & Nadia Steiber, 2013. "Combining the Entry of Young People in the Labour Market with the Retention of Older Workers," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46988, March.
    2. Hana Urbancová & Martina Fejfarová, 2017. "Factors Influencing Age Management in Organisations in the Czech Republic," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 65(1), pages 347-356.
    3. Hendrik P. Van Dalen & Kène Henkens & Joop Schippers, 2010. "Productivity of Older Workers: Perceptions of Employers and Employees," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(2), pages 309-330, June.
    4. Carmichael, Fiona & Ercolani, Marco G., 2015. "Age-training gaps across the European Union: How and why they vary across member states," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 163-175.

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