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CHAPTER 13
A Swedish programme for phasing out older employees based on consent and social responsibility 255

as ʻthe capacity for people to be employedʼ and ʻit relates not only to adequacy
of their knowledge and competences but also to the incentives and
opportunities offered to individuals to seek employmentʼ (European
Commission, 2001, p.33). It has mostly been used to characterise the
resource of individuals, with respect to how attractive they might be on the
labour market, from a social and psychological perspective (Garsten and
Jacobsson, 2004; Berntson, 2008). According to this view, employability
encompasses personal factors, competence, physical and mental health,
availability of social networks, and life style. Van der Heijde and
Van der Heijden (2005) proposed the following definition of the concept of
employability: ʻthe continuously fulfilling, acquiring or creating of work through
the optimal use of competencesʼ. There are also contextual factors that need
to be considered (Holmer et al., 2010) when it comes to the possibility for a
person to remain in, or to return to, the labour market, barriers that have a
systemic character that individuals cannot easily overcome. Such barriers may
be with the employer or society, and can be based on negative attitudes with
respect to, for example, age, gender, ethnicity and professional background.
On the contextual employability of military officers, we saw that their
competence is described in terms of leadership. Competence of officers is
vague: what sort of leadership? Is it relevant in a civilian organisation? Some
aspects affect contextual employability. Since many belonging to the prime
target group are aged 50+, general negative attitudes towards older people
must also be considered and overcome.
When it comes to the individual, employability, defined in a narrow sense
is widely variable. The stereotype is that military officers take responsibility,
are clear, outspoken, social and full of initiative. These characteristics tend to
further employability. They must also possess a high degree of self-esteem.
Perceived employability is essential for a person contemplating whether or
not to apply for career switching, since the perception itself is important and
has consequences for how a person reacts to events in the environment. ʻIf I
perceive that I am employable it leads to a higher degree of self-esteem, not
the other way aroundʼ (Berntson, 2008).
Perceived employability depends on level of education and to what extent
people have participated in competence development at work. It is much
higher in times of economic growth than in recession. It can be concluded that
competence development for the civilian labour market is essential for to what
extent persons from the present target group can be career switched
voluntarily. The career switching option can in the first place be expected to
attract persons with documented and well-validated competence.