“Aging well” in knowledge-intensive service professions in Sweden – The idealization of youth in neoliberal labor markets
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Governments need individuals to be willing and able to work as they age. Yet, studies of older individuals' employability report that labor markets become more rather than less restrictive when it comes to employing older people. The Swedish labor market is a case in point. Recent surveys and governmental reports show that job seekers' employability begins to decrease when they are in their 40s. Through interviews with jobseekers, employer representatives, and human resources and recruitment specialists, the paper examines the employability of older individuals in Sweden. It focuses on knowledge-intensive service occupations, where seniority and age may be considered strengths rather than mere liabilities. It shows that individuals who are proactive about their professional development and strive to ‘age well’ are still excluded from recruitment processes because of their age. Yet, they are not excluded due to ageism in the form of negative prejudice against older job seekers. Rather, they are excluded because employers and recruiters perceive them as being too focused on professional development and lacking the naïve, ‘just-do-it’ mentality of younger job seekers. Furthermore, their professionalism and experience are viewed as factors that make them stand out as potential threats to the managerial hierarchy. Using a governmentality lens, the study contributes to critical research on the intersection of successful aging and employability discourses by addressing a question this research raises but has left unanswered: why are younger job seekers sometimes preferred over older ones, even when employers know they are less skilled, less experienced, and not as proactive or eager to develop professionally? The analysis reveals a rift in the ableism reinforced by the neoliberal discourses on successful aging and employability. While they explicitly emphasize self-governance and proactivity, they implicitly build on individuals' subjection to hierarchical control. The older job seekers match the explicit precepts of the neoliberal discourses yet are excluded because they fail to match the implicit ones. The analysis, therefore, suggests that age is the factor revealing this divide within neoliberal governmentality. • While governments, employer and worker representatives declare the importance of keeping individuals willing and able to work as they get older, studies report that labour markets become more rather than less restrictive when it comes to employing older people. • The Swedish labour market is a case in point. Even though older individuals in Sweden are reported as being healthier and better educated than they were 30 years ago, jobseekers' chances of getting jobs begin to decrease already when they are in their 40s. • Based on a study of individuals in knowledge intensive service occupations in Sweden who are in their early 50s the paper explores how aging relate to employability in occupations where seniority and age could be strengths and not just liabilities. • The study shows that even though these individuals are proactive with regards to their skill development and strive to “age well” they are excluded in recruitment processes because they are too keen on developing professionally, because they lack the naïve, ‘just-do-it’ mentality of younger employees and their professionalism and experience stand out as potential threats to the managerial hierarchy. • The study reveals a rift or dissonance in neoliberal governance: While ideal jobseekers are explicitly required to match neoliberal precepts of self-governance and proactivity, they are implicitly required to be submissive and comfortable resources to those in command. Older jobseekers match the explicit criteria but fail to match the implicit criteria. As such, the study suggest that age is the factor that exposes the rift in neoliberal governance.
Source: Journal of Aging Studies
Author: Christian Maravelias
Institution: Stockholm University
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,240
OpenAlex ID: W4404131722