Do Older Employees Suffer More from Work Intensification and Other Intensified Job Demands? Evidence from Upper White-Collar Workers

Abstract

Background: Working life today is characterized by acceleration and intensification due to social, and particularly technological, acceleration affecting the whole of society. These phenomena also affect working life by intensifying job demands, possibly imposing new job stressors on the workforce. At the same time workforce is aging, raising a question how older employees manage to cope with these work life changes.

Methods: This study examined intensified job demands and their effects on occupational well-being from the age perspective utilizing Finnish survey data from upper white-collar workers (N = 2,200). Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and hierarchical regression analyses.

Results: The findings show that older employees experienced more work intensification and intensified knowledge- and skill-related learning demands, whereas younger employees experienced more intensified career-related planning and decision-making demands. Intensified job demands were related to occupational well-being (job burnout, work engagement), but were rarely age-specific.

Conclusion: Aging does not necessarily mean higher intensified job demands, yet work intensification and intensified learning demands can be more common among older employees. However, more research is needed concerning the relationships between aging, intensified job demands and occupational well-being as empirical evidence is still scarce.