Search results
1 – 10 of 41Lin Rouvroye, Hendrik P. van Dalen, Kène Henkens and Joop J. Schippers
Flexible staffing arrangements have become a permanent feature of employment in many industrial societies. This article examines how employers perceive the consequences of using…
Abstract
Purpose
Flexible staffing arrangements have become a permanent feature of employment in many industrial societies. This article examines how employers perceive the consequences of using flexible staffing arrangements. It presents and assesses theoretically informed hypotheses on organisational situations in which negative consequences are more likely to be perceived.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses data (n = 761) from a bespoke employers survey, fielded in the Netherlands in 2019. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to measure and explain employers' perception of downsides to flexible staffing arrangements.
Findings
Employers report distinct downsides to the use of flexible staffing arrangements in terms of performance, management and employee well-being. Model estimates show that employers using flexible staffing arrangements to acquire specific expertise or to follow other organisations in their sector perceive more downsides.
Originality/value
Empirical research on employers' perception of the disadvantageous consequences of using flexible staffing arrangements is scarce. This article highlights that this practice can discourage investments in human capital and lead to a sense of insecurity among young workers. It draws attention to the relevance of distinguishing between strategic motives when trying to understand organisational behaviour regarding non-standard forms of employment.
Details
Keywords
Corine Buers, Kasia Karpinska and Joop Schippers
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the opportunities in the labour market for young employees with intermediate-level education by studying which young employees are most…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the opportunities in the labour market for young employees with intermediate-level education by studying which young employees are most likely to be retained and under what conditions managers favour retention.
Design/methodology/approach
Retention decisions are examined by combining a vignette experiment and a survey study. Hypothetical profiles of 252 young employees were rated on their retention desirability by 21 managers, each working in a different organisation. Information on the managers’ characteristics and their organisations were collected in a survey.
Findings
Managers are generally not inclined to suggest retention. Their decisions are highly dependent on their own characteristics and organisational factors, even when young employees perform well and display desirable work-related behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
While the small scale and explorative nature of this study limit its generalisability, this paper highlights the importance of combining information on employees, the organisation and managers; when studying (early) careers and employment decisions.
Practical implications
This study suggests that job retention is only in part within an individual’s control, and the future efforts to combat youth unemployment need to account for organisational and managerial characteristics.
Originality/value
The focus on the employer’s perspective is new to research on early careers, making it a starting point for further lines of exploration. Further, this study provides a comprehensive insight into factors that influence managers’ retention decisions by combining three sets of factors in a single research design.
Details
Keywords
Laura den Dulk, Anneke van Doorne‐Huiskes and Joop Schippers
Focuses on how government policy regarding work‐family arrangements affects the labour market position of women and men in the European Union. Discusses the statutory provisions…
Abstract
Focuses on how government policy regarding work‐family arrangements affects the labour market position of women and men in the European Union. Discusses the statutory provisions of three different work‐family arrangements: leave arrangements, child care and part‐time work. Finds that the development of work‐family arrangements differs between member states, although these differences can be placed in a typology of welfare state regimes. To determine whether there is more equality between men and women in countries with a more extensive government policy, uses four indicators: the gender‐related development index of the Human Development Report, female labour participation, wage differences between men and women and segregation in the labour market. Suggests from a review of the indicators that there is a positive relation between the presence of statutory work‐family arrangements and gender equality in the labour market. Notes, however, that occupational segregation is less affected by work‐family arrangements. Concludes that a relation between the use of work‐family facilities and the persistence of segregation seems plausible. Argues that if work‐family arrangements are only available to women or if men do not use the existing facilities, inequality in the labour market will be maintained rather than reduced.
Details
Keywords
Kène Henkens and Joop Schippers
The purpose of this paper (overview) is to provide a brief introduction to the topic of active ageing and summarise the seven studies included in this special issue. The authors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper (overview) is to provide a brief introduction to the topic of active ageing and summarise the seven studies included in this special issue. The authors also acknowledge those who were instrumental in bringing this issue to fruition.
Design/methodology/approach
The International Journal of Manpower's usual double‐blind review process was used to select the seven papers included in this special issue. The papers themselves all have a cross‐national perspective using data from eight European countries. These papers represent a wide variety of designs, methodologies and analytic strategies used to study active ageing in the paid labour force as well as in civil society. The papers make use of large‐scale surveys among employers and volunteers, case studies in organisations, and vital statistics.
Findings
The findings of the studies included in this special issue provide insights into the factors and mechanisms that hamper higher participation levels of older adults in paid employment and civil society, and give suggestions on how to improve their inclusion and how to deal with an ageing workforce.
Originality/value
Taken as a collective, the papers in this special issue help propel forward in significant ways the study of active ageing from an international and interdisciplinary perspective.
Details
Keywords
Wieteke S. Conen, Kène Henkens and Joop Schippers
Although policymakers have put great efforts into the promotion of older workers’ labour force participation, quantitative empirical knowledge about employers’ views towards…
Abstract
Purpose
Although policymakers have put great efforts into the promotion of older workers’ labour force participation, quantitative empirical knowledge about employers’ views towards extension of working lives is limited. The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of employers’ attitudes and actions towards extension of working lives, by examining recruitment and retention behaviour towards older workers, employers’ views on the consequences of an ageing workforce, organisational policies, and what governments can do to extend working lives.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyse surveys administered to employers in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK in 2009.
Findings
It is found that a minority of employers have applied measures to recruit or retain older workers, and employers rather retain than hire older workers. A considerable share of employers, albeit to different degrees per country, associate the ageing of their staff with a growing gap between labour costs and productivity. Employers expecting a larger gap do not apply more organisational measures to either increase productivity or adjust the cost‐productivity balance. Employers may think the cost‐productivity issue is partly for governments to solve; employers expecting a larger cost‐productivity gap consider wage subsidies to be an effective measure to extend working lives.
Originality/value
The paper addresses the employers’ perspective, one that is often neglected compared to attitudes and behaviour of older workers themselves and research on institutional arrangements. This paper is also among the first to report on employers’ policies and practices from a cross‐national perspective.
Details
Keywords
Frerich Frerichs, Robert Lindley, Paula Aleksandrowicz, Beate Baldauf and Sheila Galloway
The purpose of this paper is to review good practice examples which promote recruitment and retention of older workers and/or the employability of workers as they age and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review good practice examples which promote recruitment and retention of older workers and/or the employability of workers as they age and to examine pathways of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis of qualitative data, drawing on a cross‐section selection of 83 good practice case studies in labour organisations in eight European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK.
Findings
The study presented good practice examples and pathways of practice for the four most frequently found dimensions in the sample (training, lifelong learning and knowledge transfer; flexible working; health protection and promotion and job design; career development and mobility management) as well as examples from small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) (construction) and the public sector (transport) adopting strategies that fall within these dimensions. These examples show that innovative solutions to the challenge of an ageing workforce have been developed with good outcomes, often combining a number of measures, e.g. mobility management, health promotion and knowledge transfer. However, there is an uneven profile of age management debates and company strategies across Europe (with countries such as Germany and the Netherlands being more advanced). There is also some evidence of a standstill or roll‐back of measures during an economic crisis.
Originality/value
The paper reviews organisational measures facilitating the extension of working lives, of which many are longstanding and include sectors previously underrepresented in good practice databases (SMEs, public sector).
Details
Keywords
This chapter is focussed on the macro context of higher education and describes the historical developments in higher education and how these developments affect academic jobs and…
Abstract
This chapter is focussed on the macro context of higher education and describes the historical developments in higher education and how these developments affect academic jobs and academic work. When we sketch the development of higher education with a few broad strokes of the pen, we see (1) a development from a small-scale elite institution to broad training (and research) institutes; (2) a struggle over control of higher education; and (3) a movement in which higher education is professionalized and increasingly assigned a societal task, with a series of consequences for education, research and impact. These developments contribute to a field of tension in which old traditions of academic behaviour must be reconciled with demands that are placed on higher education by society. This makes talent management, both on an individual and collective level, no easy task.
Details
Keywords
Andrea Principi, Robert Lindley, Jolanta Perek‐Bialas and Konrad Turek
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on organizational perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of engaging older volunteers, and on how they might best capitalize on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on organizational perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of engaging older volunteers, and on how they might best capitalize on the availability of older volunteers in different countries and sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws from 74 case studies of voluntary organizations carried out in eight European countries, conducted mainly between spring 2009 and autumn 2010. On‐site interviews adopting common guidelines were carried out with organizational representatives.
Findings
From the organizational perspectives, some disadvantages of engaging older volunteers are: difficulties matching older volunteers to tasks; problems relating to health and declining capacities; the need for special training efforts. Examples of perceived advantages are: considerable knowledge, skills, experience, reliability and strong commitment of older volunteers. In spite of the very different contexts, objectives and notions of “performance”, cost‐benefit assessments of older volunteers do not differ greatly from those generally held by employers about older employees. Countries differ considerably in the recognition of older volunteer potential.
Practical implications
Organizational policies and initiatives to capitalize on the availability of older volunteers are examined in the paper. Country and sector‐related reflections show how different and changing are the environments for volunteering. Policy makers need to recognise these when implementing active ageing policies. Voluntary organizations should raise their awareness of the need for innovation in volunteer management, especially relating to older people.
Originality/value
There has been much research about the experiences of older volunteers and how they benefit from the operations of civil society organizations. The perceptions of the organizations have, however, been neglected and these are explored in this paper.
Details
Keywords
Hendrik P. van Dalen, Kène Henkens, Wilma Henderikse and Joop Schippers
This paper aims to examine whether employers' opinions and expectations regarding workers' retirement age are in line with the ideas of the EU‐Member States' governments to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine whether employers' opinions and expectations regarding workers' retirement age are in line with the ideas of the EU‐Member States' governments to increase the participation of older workers and to postpone the transition from paid work into retirement at the end of the labour market career.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparative survey was used among employers from five European countries: Greece, Hungary, Spain, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Findings
The authors found that most employers are reluctant in supporting later retirement. Part of this reluctance is the result of the perception that an ageing work force is a burden rather than a boom to organizations.
Originality/value
This study shows that there still is a discrepancy between the aims formulated at the level of the European Union and member state countries with respect to stimulating the labour force participation of older workers and the attitudes of individual employers. In particular, the fact that employers perceive alternative solutions to the challenges of an ageing and shrinking workforce, other than delaying retirement, suggests that most employers will not be a major driving force for extending the working life.
Details