Thriving or surviving? Extending working lives in different occupational contexts

Older workers’ choices to continue working are occupationally embedded and this paper is concerned with identifying their experiences of careers in three occupational contexts: aged care employment, health care and the energy sector.  The paper asks:  How does age intersect with varying occupational contexts to influence the extension or shortening of career trajectories?  How do specific processes and experiences of employment shape the continued engagement of older workers in their careers within occupational contexts?  And, which processes and experiences diminish older workers’ engagement in work, potentially shortening their career trajectories?

The paper is based on ‘Workability’ (1) research project case studies collected in organisational surveys of older and younger energy sector workers (n= 200), health sector workers in rural facilities (n=160) and aged care personal care workers (n=69).  Baseline data from the surveys are presented. The paper focuses on the findings of qualitative interviews conducted at multiple levels with workers across ages in these three organisations.  

The findings reveal how occupational experiences influence perceptions of extending working lives. In the energy sector skills and access to training arose as critical issues for older technical workers, particularly in regard to learning in new technologies, whilst alternative ‘youthful’ career structures emerged; in the aged care sector, for personal care workers, managing the exhaustive physical demands of care work was critical to thriving or surviving in this occupation; while for hospital nurses in the health sector, the distribution of work tasks was a critical issue. These findings embedded in distinctive occupational contexts formed the basis for proposals to the organisations for future interventions.

 (1) Workability: See Ilmarinen. J. (2005). Towards a longer working life! Ageing and the quality of working life in the European Union. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.