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Recent changes in the attitudes of Norwegian managers towards older workers This report is based upon analyses of the Norwegian Senior Policy Barometer, division for managers in private and the public sector. Data are collected each year from 2003, and this report includes data from 2003 to 2007. Each year approximately 750 managers are interviewed for the Centre for Senior Policy by the market research company MMI (from 2007: Synovate). The object of the analyses is to study changes in the attitudes towards older workers among Norwegian top managers. In the period of observation, the need to make better use of older workforce and for older workers to postpone retirement has been under public discussion. Pension reforms, campaigns to promote senior personnel policy, and the agreement between unions, employers associations and the state on a more including working life are central parts of the public awareness. In addition, changes in the labour market situation with high activity, an increasing lack of labour, and lower unemployment rates, underscore the need for older workers to remain in work. This study does not intend to establish which factors that have the strongest impact on the changes we find in the senior policy barometer, but the results indicate clearly that labour market changes play a part. The managers» conceptions of older workers have changed in a positive way. Their opinion of when workers become 'older' has increased from in average 52.1 year of age in 2003 to 53.8 years in 2007. Managers are also more optimistic about the ability of older workers to master information technology, and a great majority (75 percent) hold that workers above 50 years perform at least as well at work as workers below 50. The affective element of attitude is measured as likes and dislikes for employment of different categories of workers. 'Older workers' and 'seniors' have become more popular over the study period, as have 'young workers' and workers 'fresh from education', However, by far the most popular workers are the 'experienced'. The experienced are quite different from older workers and seniors and most often they are associated with workers under at least 50, possibly even younger. The less popular workers, still in 2007, are 'older workers'. 'Seniors' are a little more popular, but clearly less attractive than 'young workers'. If the labour market situation changes and the need for labour decreases, the older workforce may become less attractive to employ. However, one possible effect of employing more older workers, as in the recent years, may be to strengthen the positive conceptions of older workers and to produce a lasting increased interest in older workers among managers. Of course, a number of other factors than managers' attitudes will influence the employment rate among the middle-aged and older age groups. Changes in the pension system, changes in working conditions and in older workers» preferences for leisure, are among such factors. Indicators on the behaviour of managers towards older workers also tend to change in a positive direction over the study period. Still, few managers report that the company have prepared for demographic changes by calculating the average age of their workforce a few years ahead. On the other hand, more managers in 2007 (18 percent) than in 2004 (8 percent) have discussed concrete consequences of the legislation against age discrimination effective from May 1. 2004. The managers are asked to what extent they have experienced that age discrimination take place in working life. The general answers have not changed significantly from 2003 to 2007. However, some specific types of discrimination seem to have changed more, e.g. that younger workers are preferred when new technology is introduced. In 2007, 61 per cent of managers had experienced this at least occasionally, compared to 66 per cent in 2004. Attitudes towards older workers differ between trades and sectors of working life. In general managers in the public sector are more positive than managers in the private sector. Managers in the public sector are more ready to employ all kinds of workers, also older workers and seniors. The trade most negative towards older workers is the hospitality business (hotels and restaurants). Hospitality managers are less interested in employing older workers and have more negative conceptions of older workers and seniors than managers in other trades. Managers in large companies (more than 100 employees) are more positive towards older workers than managers in small companies. Large companies more often recruite new workers and may sooner detect problems concerning lack of labour. Thus, they may earlier become open to recruiting the less attractive workers, like older workers. Older managers are more positive towards older workers than younger managers and the older managers seem to be spearheads pulling younger managers up to more positive attitudes. There is one exception to the more positive attitudes of older managers; they are more sceptical than younger managers regarding older workers» ability to master information technology and PC. Summing up, positive changes have taken place over the recent years in managers» attitudes towards older workers. Older managers seem more positive than younger managers. Thus, by retaining older managers, older workers may also work longer. However, older managers' attitudes concerning the PC abilities of older workers may need special attention, but managers of all ages prefer younger workers when introducing new data systems and new working methods. Including older workers in trainingprogrammes and in technology changes is a challenge for managers of all ages. In general, it is important to support attitudinal changes in progress, and to pay special attention to trades lacking behind, like the hospitality industry. Age discrimination is another issue which needs broad attention. ; Denne rapporten analyserer data fra Norsk seniorpolitisk barometer 2003-2007 om holdninger ledere i arbeidslivet har til eldre arbeids-takere. I denne perioden har det vært stor offentlig oppmerksomhet om behovet for å bruke eldre arbeidskraft bedre og for at flere pensjonerer seg senere enn i dag. Ledernes oppfatninger av eldre arbeidskraft har endret seg i positiv retning. Følelsen av å ville like å ansette eldre arbeidstakere og seniorer har også blitt mer positiv i perioden, men det har også viljen til å ansette unge og nyutdannete. Overlegent mest populære er kategorien «erfarne arbeids-takere». De «erfarne» det her gjelder, synes stort sett å være under 50 år. Minst populære er fortsatt «eldre arbeidstakere». Indirekte indikatorer på ledernes atferd overfor eldre viser også positive tendenser over perioden. Oppfatningene av hvor ofte det foregår aldersdiskriminering i arbeidslivet synes å være i mindre endring enn mange av de andre oppfatningene. Rapporten diskuterer i hvilken grad endringene er konjunkturavhengige og hvordan holdningene varierer mellom bransjer og sektorer og med ledernes kjønn og alder.

In this report we analyze results from the Norwegian Senior Policy Barometer among employed persons. MMI/Synovate interviewed one thousand persons of all ages for Centre for Senior Policy each year from 2003 to 2008. A new sample was drawn each year. The questions included opinions about older workers, age discrimination, psychosocial working environments, job satisfaction and preferences for timing of retirement. The main aim is to study changes of significance for seniors and older workers over the study period. The most obvious change is that more workers in 2008 than in 2003 want to continue work after the first option for retirement. This is particularly true for the age group 55-61 years, who is close to the first option of voluntery exit at 62 years. In 2008, 52 per cent in this age group said they wanted to continue, compared to 35 per cent in 2003. The average preferred or ideal age of exit increased from 61,4 to 62,9 years. The increased interest for work may reflect signals from the authorities about the need for seniors to remain in work. It may also reflect a general increase in employment rates and need for labour. Older workers seems to be included the general increase in employment rates over the period from 2003 to 2008. The results also indicate that older workers have a stronger position on the labour market in 2008 than in 2003. A higher support for the seniority principle by lay offs, and a clear increase in the opposition against rules allowing mandatory retirement, give evidence for a strong and strengthened position of older workers. Apart from this, we find only small changes in perceptions on the qualities and work ability of older workers, and in the experience of how often age discrimination takes place in working life. The psychosocial working environment is also conceived in about he same way in 2008 as in 2003. However, in the age group above 55 years, there are signs of a more including environment with better options for learning at the job, more autonomy and better prospects for getting new tasks. Partly, younger and older workers have quite different opinions about work and ageing, and partly they have similar opinions. The disparity in opinions seems not to be clear enough to cause strong generation conflicts in working life. However, seniors conceive 'older workers' in more positive ways than younger workers do. Studies on work performance in different age groups indicate that age differences are small, but vary according to profession. Thus, a less than perfect agreement on the qualities of older workers may cause older workers to feel underestimated by their younger workmates. Older workers, on average, report higher job satisfaction than younger workers. Particularly many of the 62-66 years olds look forward to go to the job. Apart from the polarities, those under 30 years of age and those above 67, there is a broad agreement on the definition of 'older workers'. The mean is 56 years. However, only about 50 percent of those above 56 years conceive of themselves as 'older workers', and at all ages less than 50 percent believe that their employer consider them to be 'older workers'. The majority of older workers don't seem to be happy to be counted as 'older'. Those among the seniors who report the highest degree of including factors in their working environments, are those having high education, high income and who are working long hours each week. Such including factors are options for learning new things, autonomy at work and prospects for new tasks. Policy recommendations would be to improve options for learning, autonomy and prospects for new tasks even for senior workers with low education and low income, in other words seniors lower in the hierarchies at work or with jobs requiring little or no education. Seniors with high education, high income andworking at least full time, more often has experienced that age discrimination occurs in working life. It may seem paradoxical that the groups more often reporting about an including work environment, also more often report about age discrimination. However, while the including factors refer to the workers own situation, respondents reporting age discrimination has not necessarily themselves been exposed to discrimination. Comparisons between changes among leaders (Solem 2008) and senior employees show different patterns. First, changes in definitions of 'older workers' have started earlier among seniors, and leaders have approached the higher age limits set by seniors. Second, perceptions of the qualities of older worker and their work performance are very similar among seniors and leaders in 2008. However, the two groups have reached this agreement from different starting positions. The seniors had much more positive conceptions than the leaders of the performance of older workers, and have become more negative. The leaders have become more positive. Perhaps public attention to senior workers in this period has resulted in more nuances in both groups and more realistic views on older workers. A third comparison between leaders and senior workers indicate that leaders have changed their view on the prevalence of age discrimination and report age discrimination less often in 2008, while seniors' opinions not have changed. Possibly, the legislation against age discrimination implemented in Norway in 2004 has alerted leaders to try to avoid age discrimination. Since seniors don't seem too see any improvements, leaders may have to increase their efforts to avoid discrimination of older workers. This study concludes that changes in leaders' attitudes toward older workers and the increased interest among older workers to remain in work for more years probably are parallel expressions of changes on the labour marked. Older workers are increasingly needed in the labour marked over the study period. However, we see no direct links between leaders attitudes and older workers intention to remain in work. Probably such links are more apparent in the interaction between senior workers and their supervisor. Messages from the supervisor to individual senior workers that 'we need you' are expected to be more appealing than general policy statements from the top management on the need for senior workforce. In the leader section of the Senior Policy Barometer (Solem 2008), the sample is drawn from top managers. The answers are diverse to a question on what would incite the worker to remain in work for one more year than initially intended. Obviously, one single measure would not suffice to keep a significant number of workers for one extra year. However, most of the issues mentioned are in the control of managers; higher pay, longer holidays, to improve job satisfaction and love of work, interesting tasks, to feel needed, and practical adaptations. Prevention of health problems is also of importance, according to the answers. This may require long term measures whit broader target groups than seniors. ; Denne rapporten presenterer resultater fra Norsk seniorpolitisk barometer fra 2003-2008. Hvert år er ett tusen yrkesaktive intervjuet, hvorav ca. to hundre over 55 år. Seniorene ønsker senere pensjonering i 2008 enn i 2003. Over den samme perioden har vi sett en utvikling hos ledere med mer positive holdninger til seniorer (jf. NOVA-rapport 12/08). Endringene blant lederne og blant seniorene kan være parallelle uttrykk for endringer i arbeidslivet med økende behov for eldre arbeidskraft i denne perioden. Blant de yrkesaktive er det små endringer i oppfatningene om eldres kvaliteter som arbeidskraft, i jobbtilfredshet og i oppfatningene om hvor ofte det forekommer aldersdiskriminering i arbeidslivet. De endringene vi ser går i positiv retning, f.eks. ser vi et mer positivt syn på eldres evne til å mestre data og PC.

Concern for the sustainability of the pension system and the future supply of workers has put increased labor force participation among the elderly high on the political agenda. Possible side effects of such a development for other areas have been explored only to a limited extent. In this report, we discuss what may happen to the contribution from the elderly to voluntary work and family care, and to their health, if fifty percent of the cohorts continue to work until they reach the age of 70. An important question is for example whether paid work might come to crowd out voluntary work. The report is based on descriptive analyses comparing working indivi-duals and pensioners in the age range 62-69, in relation to voluntary work, caring for a partner or parents, looking after grandchildren, and health status. We use the NorLAG study, a national representative survey conducted in 2007-2008. Despite being 10 years old, it is still the most suitable dataset due to its scope and the topics covered. With today's situation as the starting point, we consider a hypothetical situation where close to three times as many individuals remain in paid work until they turn 70, and the consequences this may have for the participation in voluntary work and family care, and health status, among people in their sixties. The outcome of this hypothetical situation we reflect on is not a given, and the conclusions are open for discussion and alternative interpretations. The results from the NorLAG analyses show that relatively few indivi-duals in their sixties participate extensively in voluntary organizational work today. There is close to no difference between pensioners and those that are still in the labor force in this regard. Helping individuals outside of the closest family is also something few individuals in their sixties do with any frequency. Here we find a small tendency for pensioners to give assistance more often than workers do, particularly among individuals in the last half of their sixties. Both when comparing workers and pensioners at any given time, and when looking at individual changes over time, the conclusion is that grand-parents' work activity does not appear to be a hindrance when it comes to look-ing after grandchildren. Since in most of the cases, the childcare takes place either weekly or monthly, it is, not surprisingly, possible to combine such activity with a job. In fact, looking after grandchildren is more common among working sixty-year-olds than among those that are not working, alleviating any fears that prolonging working lives would reduce the amount of care by grand-parents for their grandchildren. Increasing the labor force participation among individuals in their sixties does not appear to mean a higher risk of society losing an important source of care between partners or from grown children to elderly parents. Few indivi-duals in their sixties provide such care today. Furthermore, there is little to suggest that work activity has any strong impact on the tendency to contribute. Individuals that are still in paid work in their sixties have better perceived (subjective) health than pensioners do. Mental health varies considerably less with work status, but there is a slightly higher prevalence of depressive symp-toms among pensioners than among workers. This health difference is mainly the result of individuals in poor health in general leaving the workforce earlier than individuals in good health do. The effects in itself of retiring versus continuing to work are more complex, but there seems to be a slightly larger number of people benefitting from leaving early compared to the number of people benefitting from leaving late. However, the largest group of individuals appears to be those that experience no significant changes in their health whether they continue working or retire within the five-year period covered by the NorLAG data. All in all our analyses indicate that it is possible to prolong labor force participation until the age of 70 for up to 50 percent of the cohorts and at the same time maintain the age group's contribution to voluntary work and family care. It is more unclear whether increased work force participation is compatible with an increase in voluntary work and family care from the elderly. Then again, potential increases do not have to happen in all areas for all individuals; while some may remain in the labor force for longer, others may do more voluntary work or take on more care responsibilities in the family. It is harder to predict the effects of an increase in work activity for the general health status among individuals in their sixties, as health clearly varies with work status while at the same time many different factors determine the consequences of retirement on health. ; Å få flere seniorer til å stå lenger i arbeid, er en tverrpolitisk målsetting begrunnet ut fra behovet for å begrense pensjonsutgifter og sikre arbeidskraft i årene framover. Men høyere yrkesdeltakelse blant eldre kan også tenkes å få konsekvenser på andre områder. Denne rapportens analyser tyder på at det er mulig å opprettholde aldersgruppens bidrag til frivillig arbeid og familieomsorg dersom yrkesdeltakelsen fram til fylte 70 år øker til 50 prosent. Det er mer usikkert i hvilken grad økt yrkesdeltakelse lar seg forene med økt frivillig innsats og økt familieomsorg fra eldre. Det er også usikkert hvordan den generelle helsestatusen i aldersgruppen kan påvirkes av økt yrkesdeltakelse, og rapporten diskuterer virkninger på helsa under ulike forutsetninger.

A challenge posed by the demographic transition is the funding of the welfare state, which, in the Nordic countries, is relatively generous, and will have to serve growing proportions of older citizens in need of home-help services and nursing homes. Both active workers and pensioners pay income tax. However, by keeping older workers in working life for longer, the tax revenue increases while pension expenses for the government decreases. This is a means to meet that challenge and boost the sustainability of the welfare state. ; publishedVersion

As a part of an international extending working life trend, Norway recently raised the mandatory retirement age (MRA) from 70 to 72 years. This article discusses possible effects on managers' attitudes and behaviour towards older workers. This is of particular interest because employers' federations and central unions opposed the reform as they feared considerable negative consequences both for older workers and for employers. Data are collected by mixed methods. The Norwegian Senior Policy Barometer for the years 2013 through 2018 interviewed managers in 600 private sector companies each year. In addition, qualitative interviews were performed with managers and HR directors in 19 companies with employees 67 years and older. The results indicate that the fear of negative effects was exaggerated. We find no clear changes in the years around the implementation of the new MRA in the rather positive conceptions of older workers, in the more modest desire to recruit older workers, or in the reluctance to call applicants above 58 years of age in for interview. The government launched the reform to, in the long run, encourage higher employment in older age groups and to eliminate age discrimination in working life. To confirm or refute such changes requires further studies in the years to come. ; publishedVersion