Labour Market Participation of Older Workers: Drivers and Obstacles.

From an international comparative point of view the paper deals with driving forces and potential obstacles for the labour market participation of older workers. It goes into depth by focusing on four case studies that seem to be typical for different contexts. Germany, Israel, Italy and Sweden were selected in order to examine the development and the situation of older workers in detail. Each country stands for a specific configuration, e.g. because it may represent a trend reversal, a continuously outstanding performance, or lasting problems. The cases also provde information on pension reforms and approaches to better manage ageing workforces, in some cases including a new balance of work and retirement. Being aware of the different country situations, it becomes obvious that one size of politics does not fit all. Independent of national policies, employability over the life cycle should gain more attention. Regarding future developments, continuous skill improvement and a healthy work environment are indispensable to keep older workers in work.

COVID-19 and the ageing workforce: global perspectives on needs and solutions across 15 countries.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has a direct impact on the employment of older people. This adds to the challenge of ageism. The World Health Organization has started a worldwide campaign to combat ageism and has called for more research and evidence-based strategies that have the potential to be scaled up. This study specifically aims to identify solutions to combat the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the global ageing workforce. METHODS: We present 15 case studies from different countries and report on what those countries are doing or not doing to address the impact of COVID-19 on ageing workers. RESULTS: We provide examples of how COVID-19 influences older people's ability to work and stay healthy, and offer case studies of what governments, organizations or individuals can do to help ensure older people can obtain, maintain and, potentially, expand their current work. Case studies come from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Across the countries, the impact of COVID-19 on older workers is shown as widening inequalities. A particular challenge has arisen because of a large proportion of older people, often with limited education and working in the informal sector within rural areas, e.g. in Nigeria, Thailand and China. Remedies to the particular disadvantage experienced by older workers in the context of COVID are presented. These range from funding support to encouraging business continuity, innovative product and service developments, community action, new business models and localized, national and international actions. The case studies can be seen as frequently fitting within strategies that have been proven to work in reducing ageism within the workplace. They include policy and laws that have increased benefits to workers during lockdowns (most countries); educational activities such as coaching seniorpreneurship (e,g, Australia); intergenerational contact interventions such as younger Thai people who moved back to rural areas and sharing their digital knowledge with older people and where older people reciprocate by teaching the younger people farming knowledge. CONCLUSION: Global sharing of this knowledge among international, national and local governments and organizations, businesses, policy makers and health and human resources experts will further understanding of the issues that are faced by older workers. This will facilitate the replication or scalability of solutions as called for in the WHO call to combat ageism in 2021. We suggest that policy makers, business owners, researchers and international organisations build on the case studies by investing in evidence-based strategies to create inclusive workplaces. Such action will thus help to challenge ageism, reduce inequity, improve business continuity and add to the quality of life of older workers.

Differences of Four Work-Related Behavior and Experience Patterns in Work Ability and Other Work-Related Perceptions in a Finance Company.

The present study applies a salutogenetic approach to psycho-social stress and wellbeing at work and for the first time analyzes the relation of an extended model of four work-related behavior and experience patterns to work related perceptions, like work ability, job satisfaction and turnover intention, or engagement. Employees of an international financial services company (N = 182) completed the questionnaire Work-related behavior and experience pattern (Arbeitsbezogenes Verhaltens- und Erlebensmuster; AVEM). The AVEM has oftentimes been used for research in helping professions, but research in non-helping professions is scarce. In addition to the AVEM, measures of job satisfaction, work ability, work engagement, presenteeism, and turnover intention were included in this study. Almost half (46.2%) of the sample showed a rather unambitious attitude towards work, followed by a burnout-related risk pattern (22.0%), a healthy pattern (19.8%), and a pattern at risk for overexertion (12.1%). Significantly more favorable scores were found for all work-related perceptions in participants with the healthy pattern compared to those with the burnout-related risk pattern, except for turnover intention where no significant differences were found. For work ability and vigor, those with a healthy pattern also had significantly higher scores than those with an unambitious pattern and a pattern at risk for overexertion. Being at risk for burnout not only affects job-related wellbeing and coping resources, but also work ability and work engagement. A need for personnel and organizational development and health promotion is indicated by a high number of individuals with reduced working motivation and risk patterns for overexertion or burnout.

Measuring Work Ability with Its Antecedents: Evaluation of the Work Ability Survey.

Purpose The revised version of the Work Ability Survey (WAS-R) assesses work ability on several sub-scales at the intersection of personal and organizational capacity, thus adding to the measurement of work ability by integrating the holistic model. It, therefore, improves on two features of the current standard measurement tool of work ability, the Work Ability Index (WAI): (1) a ceiling effect and (2) limited detail due to a focus on physical health and personal capacity. Method In two samples (n 1 = 1093, n 2 = 359), psychometric properties and the structure of the WAS-R were analyzed. To evaluate construct validity, inter-correlations of the WAS-R and WAI, sickness absence, expected and desired retirement age, and post-retirement work intention were calculated. Results The WAS-R was found to be distributed closer to normality than the WAI. The structural analyses yielded acceptable results for the hypothesized model. The WAS-R was adequately correlated with the WAI, negatively with sickness absence, and positively with desired retirement age. Conclusions The WAS-R extends the measurement of work ability, reflecting organizations' work demands. Its broad sub-scales lead to high acceptance of the results within the participating companies. In particular, the organizational capacity scales can be used to guide interventions aiming at organizational characteristics to improve work ability.

Does More Respect from Leaders Postpone the Desire to Retire? Understanding the Mechanisms of Retirement Decision-Making.

The demographic trends (i.e., low birth rates and increasing longevity) pose challenges with regard to the increase of the average employee age along with a lack of skilled personnel on the labor market. Society, organizations, and individuals are confronted with the question on how to prolong working lives in the future. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between respectful leadership and older workers' desired retirement age. In particular, we took a closer look at job satisfaction, subjective health, and work-to-private life conflict as underlying mechanisms. Further, we tested for the moderating role of occupational self-efficacy as an auxiliary condition for the assumed relationships of respectful leadership. We tested our hypothesized model using data from 1,130 blue- and white-collar workers aged 45-65 years. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that respectful leadership was positively related to older workers' desired retirement age and that this relationship was mediated by subjective health and work-to-private life conflict but not by job satisfaction. The findings add to the literature on resources in retirement decision-making; notably, they highlight the importance of leadership behavior for older workers' motivation and socioemotional needs.

Openness in cross-cultural work settings: a multicountry study of expatriates.

Openness plays an important role in determining what kind of experiences individuals seek out not only in their personal lives, but also in work environments. The objectives of this study were (a) to examine the influence of openness and its facets on the decision to work abroad and (b) to study whether employees' openness relates to cross-cultural adjustment as well as job and life satisfaction. We investigated these questions among a sample of 2,096 expatriates. In addition to self-reports of openness and cross-cultural adjustment, ratings of subjects' adjustment were also obtained from 928 knowledgeable others. The openness facets of actions, ideas, and values appear to be good predictors of acceptance of international assignments. In addition, global Openness and its facets Openness to actions and feelings relate to self- and other ratings of cross-cultural adjustment.

A research note on age discrimination and the desire to retire: the mediating effect of psychological empowerment.

Age discrimination is a common problem in organizations. In our pilot study, we want to explore the processes how the desired retirement age is influenced by age discrimination and see psychological empowerment as an important mediator for the relationship between these variables. Data stem from an online questionnaire completed by 130 employees from different organizations in Germany (all 50 years or older). Our results show that age discrimination is an antecedent for the desired retirement age. It has a direct as well as an indirect (via psychological empowerment) effect on the desired retirement age.

Gerenciamento de projetos na pesquisa intercultural - o projeto iGOES como exemplo / Project management and the intercultural research – the project iGOES as a case study

Trata-se da descrição de características de sucesso de projetos desenvolvidos em perspectivas internacionais tomando como exemplo o projeto intitulado iGOES – Generalização Internacional de Fatores de Sucesso entre Expatriados. A colocação internacional de pessoal no trabalho vem aumentando e desempenhando papel importante para o desenvolvimento das organizações no futuro. Melhorar a performance dessas pessoas e aumentar a sua chance de sucesso nas novas situações de trabalho depende do conhecimento obtido por meio de pesquisas seguras e com instrumentos equivalentes em perspectiva internacional. O levantamento de dados em diferentes culturas sobre o tema da expatriação, a exemplo de critérios para a transferência de empregados contratados por empresas internacionais, sua adaptação aos novos ambientes culturais e o desempenho nessas novas situações, tem sido feito apenas parcialmente e de forma não sistemática. Ao mesmo tempo, pessoas com atuação gerencial e trabalhista internacional acreditam, em sua maioria, que o sucesso de empregados que se encontram nessa situação tem as mesmas características, independentemente de seu país de origem ou de destino. No presente estudo se utilizaram instrumentos como entrevista, questionário e testes psicológicos para levantar conhecimento sobre a adaptação e o desempenho dos pesquisados. Com a utilização de instrumentos de pesquisa adequados, a colaboração institucional internacional e o levantamento de uma amostra que permite a generalização de seus resultados sobre empregados expatriados, o projeto iGOES se apresentou como o maior projeto no âmbito da pesquisa diagnóstica sobre expatriação, uma vez que todos os clusters culturais do mundo são levados em conta.(AU)

Gerenciamento de projetos na pesquisa intercultural ­ o projeto iGOES como exemplo / Project management and the intercultural research ­ the project iGOES as a case study

Trata-se da descrição de características de sucesso de projetos desenvolvidos em perspectivas internacionais tomando como exemplo o projeto intitulado iGOES ­ Generalização Internacional de Fatores de Sucesso entre Expatriados. A colocação internacional de pessoal no trabalho vem aumentando e desempenhando papel importante para o desenvolvimento das organizações no futuro. Melhorar a performance dessas pessoas e aumentar a sua chance de sucesso nas novas situações de trabalho depende do conhecimento obtido por meio de pesquisas seguras e com instrumentos equivalentes em perspectiva internacional. O levantamento de dados em diferentes culturas sobre o tema da expatriação, a exemplo de critérios para a transferência de empregados contratados por empresas internacionais, sua adaptação aos novos ambientes culturais e o desempenho nessas novas situações, tem sido feito apenas parcialmente e de forma não sistemática. Ao mesmo tempo, pessoas com atuação gerencial e trabalhista internacional acreditam, em sua maioria, que o sucesso de empregados que se encontram nessa situação tem as mesmas características, independentemente de seu país de origem ou de destino. No presente estudo se utilizaram instrumentos como entrevista, questionário e testes psicológicos para levantar conhecimento sobre a adaptação e o desempenho dos pesquisados. Com a utilização de instrumentos de pesquisa adequados, a colaboração institucional internacional e o levantamento de uma amostra que permite a generalização de seus resultados sobre empregados expatriados, o projeto iGOES se apresentou como o maior projeto no âmbito da pesquisa diagnóstica sobre expatriação, uma vez que todos os clusters culturais do mundo são levados em conta.

This is the description of characteristics of successful projects developed in international perspective taking as an example the project entitled iGOES, international Generalization of Expatriate Success Factors. The placement of international staff at work is growing and playing an important role in the development of organizations in the future. Improve their performance and increase their chance of success in new work situations depend on the knowledge gained through secure research with equivalent instruments in international perspective. Survey data in different cultures on the subject of expatriation, the example of criteria for the transfer of employees hired by international companies, their adaptability to new cultural environments and performance in these new situations have been studied only partially and unsystematically. At the same time, managers with international reach believe, in most cases, the success of employees who are in this situation have the same characteristics regardless of their country of origin or destination. For the treatment of questions related to cultural adequacy of projects it was used different instruments such as interviews, questionnaires and psychological tests. With these resources it was possible to raise and increase the knowledge on adaptation and performance of respondents. With the help of appropriate research tools, with the collaboration among different research teams and with no international institutional support it was possible to survey a sample that allows generalization of results on expatriate employees. Therefore, the project iGOES presented itself as the largest project in the field of diagnostic research on expatriation, in which all cultural clusters in the world are taken into account.