Suchergebnisse

Purpose
European welfare states, including Finland, have recently introduced reforms that aim to delay the average timing of retirement. The degree of success of these reforms will depend on future institutional and societal developments that influence retirement timing. The purpose of this paper is to identify such scenarios in the Finnish context.


Design/methodology/approach
The study employs the Delphi method by interviewing anonymous experts from a variety of relevant organisations and fields in Finland, then sending them a scaled on-line questionnaire from the initial findings to elicit views on the likelihood of different scenarios influencing retirement timing over the next 20 years.


Findings
While the experts perceived that a raised state pension age and a removal of early retirement options will inevitably delay retirement on average, multiple scenarios were believe to hinder this trend. These included domestic elderly care becoming more common, technology-induced restructuring of labour markets and shortening working weeks, all of which were associated with widening socioeconomic inequalities in retirement timing. The predicted inequalities were attributed to a polarisation concerning older workers' abilities to extend their careers and to plan their retirement. The planned mass privatisation of health and social services in Finland was perceived to accelerate this outcome.


Practical implications
The study suggests that a significant policy challenge in face of upcoming societal trends is to make delayed retirement a more equally viable option.


Originality/value
This paper demonstrates the usefulness of scenario building for anticipating possible developments that may influence the success of policies aimed at delaying retirement.

PurposeInterest in older employees increases in times of population ageing. Previous research exploring the situation has underlined older employees' struggle with workplace changes. However, it has not explored their master narrative – the socially shared narrative about older employees that steers behaviour. This study explores this narrative and its differences across changing workplaces. It draws on Lyotard's suggestion that master narratives disintegrate in post-modern societies.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducts focus groups among older Finnish employees of an airline, postal service and social care. These groups experienced different kinds of workplace changes, namely mass layoffs, digitalisation and restructuring. The focus groups highlight the individuals' shared narratives, thereby pinpointing the master narrative.FindingsThe master narrative describes how simultaneous changes at the workplace and in their health lead older employees to look for ways to exit their jobs. This narrative is largely stable across workplaces, showing no disintegration but some variation.Originality/valueThis is the first study on the master narrative of older employees and its disintegration. To the authors' knowledge, it is also the first study to use focus groups to explore a master narrative.