A long working life for everyone: Workplace measures in physically and psychosocially demanding jobs

The project will contribute with crucial knowledge about how workplace measures can support a sustainable working life for all labor market groups. The findings aim to guide employer initiatives and policy recommendations, improving work conditions and opportunities for older workers to remain employed longer. This is vital to achieving political goals for a sustainable and extended working life.

Extending working life has been a key political goal in recent decades, but achieving this goal faces challenges. These include mismatches between job demands and older workers’ motivation and abilities, as well as unequal access to workplace measures such as flexible working conditions and adapted work that support longer careers.

While research shows that working conditions strongly influence how long people stay in the workforce, few studies have explored the impact of specific workplace measures offered by the employer to older employees aiming at motivating and enabling them to remain in work.

This study seeks to identify and analyze workplace measures designed to enable and motivate older workers to remain employed up to and beyond retirement age, with a focus on groups facing particular challenges, such as in physically demanding jobs, low-control roles, and jobs with high emotional demands.