Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.3 Employability of Older Workers and Lifelong Learning
circumstances brought about by floundering economies reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (Eikhof, 2020). Yet, even before the pandemic, older workers were considered a vulnerable group within the workforce (Cox, 2020; Ghilarducci & Farmand, 2020) and, in most contexts, suffering from insecurities, particularly in terms of employment and work skills (Amundson, 2019; Wandner, 2018). Older workers are also not given adequate and careful consideration when governments craft employment and training policies (OECD, 2019; Vasconcelos, 2018; Westwood, 2019), although this may not be the case completely in some countries such as Singapore and Australia (Ní Léime, 2020;
Subramaniam, 2019). However, there are also concerns regarding the success of these policies and whether their effects permeate all levels of society (Egdell, 2020; Foweraker & Cutcher, 2020; Gekara et al., 2019; Lössbroek & Radl, 2019). As such, further research is needed to fully understand the impact of such policies and whether they address the issues concerning older workers. Therefore, in the current study, older workers in Singapore are referred to as workers in gainful employment aged 50 years and above.
of extending their working lives (Midtsundstad & Nielsen, 2019; Sung & Freebody, 2017).
Several studies (Böttcher et al., 2018; Fleischmann et al., 2015; Noone et al., 2018; Taylor et al., 2016; Teichmann et al., 2019; Tikkanen & Billett, 2014) have explored factors that enhance the employability of older workers. These include how various agencies such as workplaces, vocational institutes and governments could contribute towards improving the older workers’ employability.
Research on aging, employability and lifelong learning is now vital for many industrialised countries with a rapidly greying population such as Singapore, Australia and Japan. Scholars have found that older workers are more likely to be involved in highly demanding productive professions and job roles, such as executive and managerial positions, given the severe deficits in skilled labour in many developed economies (Choo, 2014; Harteis et al., 2015). The studies highlight various factors that influence older workers’ employability, including age management policies, flexible working conditions and the psychosocial work environment, but find that extending the pensionable age does not affect employability.
The advancement of many societies in a technologically driven, fast-changing knowledge economy means that the workforce is expected to upskill themselves constantly throughout their working lives. The ability to learn and adapt to new skills and training is core to remaining relevant and ensuring sustained employment (Ashford et al., 2018; Hirschi, 2018). Other studies (Fleischmann et al., 2015; Morrow-Howell et al., 2020; Turek &
Henkens, 2020; World Development Report, 2019) have similarly reiterated the arguments made earlier that in contemporary workplaces, older workers who choose to stay employed need to develop new skills to adapt to new work environments and job demands. Three similar studies conducted in the Netherlands found that older workers generally reported a much better self-rated employability than younger people and preferred to retire later in life (Hennekam, 2015; Pilipiec et al., 2021; Van Der Klaauw & Van Ours, 2013). Various agencies improved the employability of these workers through lifelong learning initiatives
(Ilori & Ajagunna, 2020). One of the many definitions of lifelong learning refers to the continuous building of skills and knowledge during one’s life, both through formal and informal experiences (de Grip et al., 2019). Recent definitions recognise lifelong learning as an enabler for workers to develop their capacities, enhancing productive aging (Tatiana- Gabriela, 2019; Thang et al., 2019). Although it is clear that older workers are an important part of the future workforce, it is notable that a series of initiatives and policies are necessary to support them in remaining employed and ensure sustained employment (Bernstrøm et al., 2019).
Other studies highlight the role of lifelong learning in the work lives of older workers (Boyadjieva & Ilieva-Trichkova, 2018; Desjardins et al., 2019; Froehlich et al., 2016; Lejeune et al., 2018). They explored the relationship between aging workers’ learning and employability and found an absence of consistent empirical findings to account for any connection between a workers’ age and employability and age and work-related learning.
However, one finding confirmed that lifelong learning was fundamental for sustained employment in an ever-changing employment landscape. Another study in Malaysia highlighted that lifelong learning programs for professionalisation among industrial workers was crucial to productivity. Further, most workers felt that lifelong learning programs provided personal satisfaction and facilitated promotion opportunities and salary increments (Kassim et al., 2019). Although some older adults have the necessary competencies, experience and current workplace skills, barriers such as institutional, societal and personal factors may constrain their participation in training and recruitment activities to increase their chances of gainful employment (MOM Singapore, 2019; Raemdonck et al., 2015). One qualitative study used a series of interviews to explore the experiences of a group of underprivileged older jobseekers as they participated in training and job-search activities. It indicated a discrepancy between participants’ preferred ways of learning and the delivery modes in their training programs and training activities that did not necessarily translate into
employment (Meyers, 2016). Singapore has several government assistance schemes to assist older workers and support them during retrenchment exercises and crises such as COVID-19 (MOM Singapore, 2019). However, the above study questions the value of training and the effectiveness of current provisions in the job search and hiring process in many countries, including Singapore.
Thus, these studies show that chronological age may not be the most critical determinant in improving employability but learning to adapt to new roles and work environments is most necessary for sustained employment (Zhu & Zhang, 2019). Further, one study in Norway correlated having more education, which increases employability, with more time spent being actively involved in the workforce. The study also found that acquiring more transferable skills in training facilitates career mobility and creates more value for the worker’s current employer (Midtsundstad & Nielsen, 2019). Other studies on employability similarly found that lifelong learning is essential for enhancing older people’s employability;
however, heterogeneity pervades its rhetoric and practice, which may impair effectiveness and success (Dengler, 2019; Osborne & Borkowska, 2017). Yet, these studies focus on understanding and establishing the relationship between older workers’ employability and lifelong learning, as well as other factors impacting employability. The studies are largely quantitative, with most of the findings discussing problematic areas between employability and older workers’ learning and suggesting ways to resolve these. Lastly, these studies’
approaches primarily address fundamental pedagogical concepts affecting older adults, limiting the scope of their application to enhancing their learning experiences and degree of employability.