Parfenova O.A., & Petukhova I.S. (2024). The Contradictory Role of the State and the Agency of the Elderly in Extending the Employment of Older Generations: Reconstructing Expert Perceptions. Social Sciences, Vol. 55, No. 3, 20-37. https: ...

Abstract

This article reconstructs and analyzes expert ideas about the employment of older people in the context of delayed aging and social in- clusion. Based on interviews (N=30) with experts working with older peo- ple at government agencies, employment centers and NGOs, social services, and geriatric centers, we reconstructed and analyzed expert ideas about the employment of those aged 60+. Employment at an older age, with the ex- ception of hard physical labor, is clearly regarded by experts as a positive phenomenon. Experts consider older people themselves, employers, and the state to be the main agents in shaping the trajectory of extended employment. The most active agents are older people who need to be active, have the de- sire and opportunity to work, express their needs, and continuously improve their skills. Potential trajectories of extended employment after the age of 60 are varied and, in addition to the obvious continuation of work in the usual place, may include retraining or a “second career,” including the transition to online employment; the development of existing experience to an expert lev- el; downshifting and unpaid employment (for example, volunteer activity). The opportunity to become self-employed makes planning a career path more convenient and flexible. According to the experts, employers could more ac- tively develop the institution of mentoring involving older people and making This article reconstructs and analyzes expert ideas about theemployment of older people in the context of delayed aging and social in-clusion. Based on interviews (N=30) with experts working with older peo-ple at government agencies, employment centers and NGOs, social services,and geriatric centers, we reconstructed and analyzed expert ideas about theemployment of those aged 60+. Employment at an older age, with the ex-ception of hard physical labor, is clearly regarded by experts as a positivephenomenon. Experts consider older people themselves, employers, and thestate to be the main agents in shaping the trajectory of extended employment.The most active agents are older people who need to be active, have the de-sire and opportunity to work, express their needs, and continuously improvetheir skills. Potential trajectories of extended employment after the age of 60are varied and, in addition to the obvious continuation of work in the usualplace, may include retraining or a “second career,” including the transition toonline employment; the development of existing experience to an expert lev-el; downshifting and unpaid employment (for example, volunteer activity).The opportunity to become self-employed makes planning a career path moreconvenient and flexible. According to the experts, employers could more ac-tively develop the institution of mentoring involving older people and making working conditions more inclusive by introducing flexible schedules for older workers. The most contradictory comments applied to the state: On the one hand, “there is little the state can do” and older people should themselves “be more proactive”; but, on the other hand, the state is the agent that sets and structures employment policies and age limits, and it is impossible to downgrade its role and significance. The experts said projects and targeted measures are the main vectors of the state employment policy such as the Demography project, support for some NGO initiatives (though their effectiveness is questionable and calls for a separate study) as well as more systemic ones, such as the law on self-employment and pension reform. Experts evaluate the raising of the retirement age negatively, considering it primarily to be not an opportunity to prolong employment, but a deprivation of a material resource. At the same time, state institutions working with older people, including those that have to do directly or indirectly with the extension of employment, are assessed as not particularly effective and poorly oriented towards the needs of the labor market and older people themselves. The exception is the law on self-employment, which allows older people to flexibly plan their trajectory. Experts believe that the state should be much more active in promoting more flexible employment policies for older people, creating infrastructure for retraining, providing an appropriate legislative basis for employers and senior workers, and multiplying the best practices of NGOs. This requires close interaction with employers, older people, and NGOs in order to take into account the interests of all participants, but such interaction does not exist, just as there is no comprehensive policy for extending employment as such. Today, the main contribution of the state to prolonging employment can be considered the unwelcome increase of the retirement age (after many years of promises to the contrary), as a result of which “half-pensioners/half-workers” have to build their professional trajectory by themselves.

Àâòîðû: