Decreasing employability with age? The role of automation risk, lifelong learning and occupational mobility
ENPurpose: As aging populations lead to longer working lives and increasing automation threatens job security, maintaining lifelong employability is becoming a fundamental challenge for many individuals. The purpose of this study is to examine how lifelong employability can be maintained. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the theoretical perspectives of both movement capital and selection, optimization and compensation (SOC) theories, we used large-scale survey data (N = 2,256) from three European countries to investigate strategies for preserving employability among aging workers. Specifically, we explored the perceived risk of automation, lifelong learner characteristics and self-efficacy for occupational mobility as boundary conditions that may shape the negative relationship between age and employability. Findings: We found a negative relationship between age and employability, which was more pronounced when the perceived risk of automation was higher. Furthermore, lifelong learner characteristics and self-efficacy for occupational mobility mitigated the negative relationship, so that age was not related to employability if people possessed lifelong learner characteristics and were ready for a career change. Originality/value: Our study implies the importance of investing in enhancing lifelong learner characteristics and self-efficacy for occupational mobility for older employees. Keywords: employability, aging, perceived risk of automation, lifelong learnng, occupational mobility, career change. [From the publication]
