Age discrimination is not a new phenomenon in the labour market. Doctoral researcher Katri Keskinen is familiar with the topic after researching the career choices and job search of recently laid off workers in their 50s and 60s. Her study is based on Tampere University’s Towards a Two-Speed Finland project that collected data on the lives of recently dismissed Finnish postal workers using a qualitative longitudinal setting.
“The career paths and histories varied greatly,” Keskinen notes. Even though most of the workers who had reached retirement age used the dismissals to transition to retirement, the choice was more complicated for younger workers who had not reached the official retirement age. Some of them found new employment immediately, some found a new calling and changed careers, and some had problems in their job search. Keskinen also discovered that age presented a barrier for the jobseekers as they felt that they needed to overcome their age to succeed in jobhunting.
Age discrimination is rooted in the concept of ageism that comprises age-based prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. Although the concept of ageism has been around for more than 50 years, it is still largely unknown to the wider public.
“If age discrimination acted alone in working life, the phenomenon would be easier to unpack and address with existing legislation. But when it is supported and maintained by internalised stereotypes and prejudice, more holistic measures are needed to change how we, as a society, construct the life-course and ageing,” Keskinen summarises.
According to the doctoral research, the jobseekers experienced both direct and indirect age discrimination from both employers and employment services. Usually, the first experiences of age discrimination came from employment services where the jobseekers were told that they were considered too old for further training or were given estimates that their re-employment would be nearly impossible because of their age. “In some cases, the jobseekers waited the employment services to contact them only to learn that there was never any intention to get in touch with them at all because they were old enough to qualify for an early exit,” Keskinen says. At the same time, employers conveyed the same message either by saying it directly or referring to it indirectly by implying that people over the age of 50 are starting to be too old to hire.
Keskinen hopes that decision-makers would start acknowledging the role of ageism and its consequences in Finland, especially in the labour market. In her dissertation, she discusses policy implications and recommendations on how the Finnish labour market could start unpacking the inherent and deeply embedded ageism and age discrimination and proposes measures that could be developed to better support career continuation in late life unemployment as part of the extending working lives agenda.
Public defence on Friday 22 March
The doctoral dissertation of MSc Katri Keskinen in the field of social psychology titled Sidesteps? Career choices, normativity and individual agency in late life unemployment will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tampere University at 12 o´clock on Friday 22 March 2024. The venue is Pinni A building, Paavo Koli Auditorium (address: Kanslerinrinne 1, Tampere). The Opponent will be Professor Monika Allgurin from Jönköping University. The Custos will be docent Pirjo Nikander from Tampere University’s Doctoral School.
The doctoral dissertation is available online
The public defense can be followed via a remote connection (Zoom)