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CHAPTER 8
Policy, research and practice: supporting longer careers for baby-boomers 161

Flexibility of options and pathways are important. Gielen (2009, p. 247)
identifies different destinations of older workers as retirement, inactivity, hours
reduction with current employer, changing employers with and changing
employers without reducing working hours. Increasing hours flexibility is a way
to increase older workers participation in the labour force, and particularly
increasing flexibility allowing for gradual retirement with good quality part-time
jobs could be effective in encouraging more older women to continue working
(Gielen, 2009, p. 270).
Flexibility needs to extend to work itself. Workers require financial
incentives, work to be attractive, and positive attitudes from employers
(Simonazzi, 2009, p. 24). Employers should design job roles to suit the skills
and experiences of older workers, and with consideration of lifestyle needs,
and recognition of career change possibilities. This point is reinforced in the
following: ʻa qualitative case study, new age contract, which was carried out
in 2001, emphasises that long working careers can only be built when working
conditions are good and reasonable demands are made of people of all ages.
Longer careers than currently the norm will not be possible unless
consideration is given to older workersʼ work capacity and life situations.
Practices must be established to encourage older workers to stay longer at
work and to maintain high productivity levelsʼ (Pärnänen, 2006).
Flynn (2010) concluded, from his analysis of literature on older workers,
ʻthat the older workforce is a wide range of workers whose experience in work
impacts on the attitudes toward and planning for retirementʼ. This diversity
ʻnecessitates a variety of policy instruments for encouraging and extending
working life.ʼ There is no ʻone size fits allʼ in ʻdesigning incentives to delay
retirementʼ (Flynn, 2010, p. 320). Taylor (2002) provides a list of
recommendations for public policy targeting older workers which includes:
ʻremoving previous incentives to early retirement, encouraging later retirement
and flexible retirement, legislation to counter age discrimination, awareness
raising campaigns among employers, guidance and training programmes
targeting older workers, advice and guidance for employers, employment
placements, support for labour-market intermediaries, and employment
incentive schemes.ʼ
As well as positive work situations, education and training can provide
opportunities, therefore older workers need equal access to programmes
tailored to meet their needs. For those not in work, additional consideration is
required, and vocational education and training can assist in providing
opportunities (Dawe, 2009, p. 7).
From literature and examples of ʻgood practiceʼ referred to earlier several