Supporting older workers to work: a systematic review
| Published date | 02 August 2019 |
| Pages | 1318-1335 |
| Date | 02 August 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2018-0455 |
| Author | Mego Kuan-Lun Chen,Elliroma Gardiner |
| Subject Matter | Hr & organizational behaviour,Global hrm |
Supporting older workers to
work: a systematic review
Mego Kuan-Lun Chen
School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University,
Mt Gravatt, Australia, and
Elliroma Gardiner
School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia and
Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing,
Griffith University, Nathan, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify what work-related factors influence the continued
participation of older workers in the workforce.
Design/methodology/approach –A systematic quantitative literatu re review of the workforce
participation literature identified 27 publications from 1995 to 2016 that examined the impact of work-
related factors on older workers’intention to continue working.
Findings –Results show that work demands, learning and development opportunities, job autonomy,
recognition and respect, mentoring opportunities, supportive organisational climate and social support were
significant factors that predicted older workers’workforce participation decisions. Interestingly, less evidence
was found to support flexible work arrangements or salary as inducers of workforce participation. Results
also show an overrepresentation of cross-sectional studies involving participants from western countries
employed in healthcare and social assistance sectors.
Practical implications –Organisations should adjust their policies and practices to accommodate the
needs of older workers, focusing specifically on increasing factors that encourage participation and removing
obstacles to participation.
Social implications –Increasing the partici pation rates of older workers is a key goal for gove rnments
and organisations wor ldwide. This research id entifies some specif ic factors that are likely to encourage
continued particip ation.
Originality/value –A systematic evaluation of the extant research draws new conclusions and insights as
to what work factors are more likely to influence the participation decisions of older workers.
Keywords Quantitative, Retirement, Commitment, Older Workers, Ageing workforce
Paper type Research paper
With longer life expectancies and lower fertility rates, many countries are confronted with
the financial challenges and labour shortages associated with having an ageing population
(United Nations, 2017; World Health Organization, 2018). Extending the working lives of
older workers, workers aged 45 years and older (Ilmarinen, 2001), is one significant way to
combat these social issues. Indeed, governments worldwide have scrambled to put in place
strategies to improve participation rates, however, generally the success of these initiatives
has been limited (Nilsson et al., 2016; Sonnet et al., 2014; Weller, 2007). Barriers at work, such
as a lack of flexible work options and discriminatory attitudes against older workers,
continue to push older workers out of the workforce prematurely with fewer willing to work
beyond 65 years of age (Billett et al., 2011).
To prolong the working lives of older workers, organisations have understood the need
to adjust their workplace practices to be more inclusive of older workers (Cohen, 2006; Kooij
et al., 2010). Several work-related factors, that is, factors that are within the control of
organisations, have become recognised as key predictors of older workers’decisions to
continue working (Edge et al., 2017; Fuertes et al., 2013; Radford et al., 2015). These work-
related factors can outweigh the effects of individual differences such as age, health or
family commitments (Radford et al., 2015). There are, however, relatively few empirical
Personnel Review
Vol. 48 No. 5, 2019
pp. 1318-1335
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-11-2018-0455
Received 14 November 2018
Revised 10 January 2019
Accepted 21 February 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
1318
PR
48,5
studies which have investigated the effects of work-related factors on older workers’
intention to continue working (Armstrong-Stassen and Ursel, 2009; Radford et al., 2015;
Shacklock and Brunetto, 2011). Of the studies that have been conducted, the results have
been mixed (Hennekam and Herrbach, 2015; Herrbach et al., 2009; Van Solinge and Henkens,
2013). These inconsistent findings in the literature increase the difficulty for organisations
to determine which work-related factors, together or alone, are effective at encouraging older
workers to continue working. Although some effort has been made to disentangle and
explain these discrepant findings more clarity is required.
The current research aims to identify what work-related factors influence older workers’
decisions to continue working. The current review employs a systematic quantitative
literature review (SQLR) methodology which refers to a form of literature review that uses a
systematic and quantitative approach to synthesise and interpret the body of literature on a
specific topic (Pickering and Byrne, 2014). A holistic and comprehensive review of the extant
literature is expected to meaningfully inform policy development as well as organisational
practices with respect to encouraging older workers to remain in the workforce.
Method
The SQLR is a popular technique being readily adopted by researchers with over 100
published research articles using this methodology over the last 6 years. This
methodology has several advantages over traditional narrative and meta-analytic
techniques such that the process and results are born from a systematic, explicit and
reproducible methodology that accommodates different combinations of heterogeneous
research study factors. The present review followed Pickering and Byrne’s (2014) 15-step
framework for SQLR and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-
analyses statement (Moher et al., 2009).
Data collection
The following electronic databases were searched between 29 April and 15 July 2017:
ProQuest, PsychINFO, Web of Science, EBSCOhost and ABI/INFORM Global. The
following search terms were used: age, work, older worker and intention to retire. The
search terms were entered in the same order to minimise the chances of search results being
confounded. Work* AND (older worker*) AND (intention to retire) and work* AND age*
AND (intention to retire) were the two search strings that were used consistently across all
databases. Results were restricted to papers published before 1 January 2017 and data
collection and analysis was conducted in 2017 and 2018.
Inclusion/exclusion criteria
Studies were included if they met the following criteria: participants must be aged
45 years or older; analyses needed to be conducted on a sample where all participants are
in paid employment; the study assessed participants’intentions to re tire (leavi ng the
workforce permanently) or intentions to continue working; and the independent variables
of the study must include work-related factors, such as policies, practices or arrangements
that can be controlled by the organisation. Literature reviews, meta-analyses, theoretical
or conceptual papers, papers using a qualitative methodology and studies with no test of
significance were excluded.
Data abstraction
The content of the articles was extracted in accordance with Pickering and Byrne (2014)
recommendations, where an Excel spreadsheet was used to detail the extracted information.
The relationships between the independent variables (i.e. work-related factors) and the
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Supporting
older workers
to work
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