Exploring the Experiences of Disadvantaged Older Jobseekers Participating in Training and Job-seeking Activities to Increase their Employability

Abstract

Older adults' abilities to secure employment and remain employable are partially premised on their work-related capacities and interests. Such capacities have come into sharper policy focus now, as across OECD countries, including Australia, increasing the labour force participation rate of older adults – those aged 45 years and over – is seen as a strategy to redress the economic and social challenges brought about by ageing populations. Yet, not all older adults have work capacities of the kind that can sustain their employability, particularly because of changing work and workplace requirements. Many of those who are over 55 years are potentially marginalised by their work histories, low educational achievements and currency of occupational capacities. Moreover, their ability to pursue employment-related training opportunities to overcome those limitations is constrained by an interrelated range of factors and barriers. These constraining factors and barriers include those that are: (a) institutional, such as disincentives from government policies, unhelpful practices of social security agents, and ineffective government-funded provisions; (b) societal, such as age discrimination in employer attitudes and practices; and (c) personal, such as dispositions, and the beliefs those older adults hold about their work-related capacities and potentials.