Introduction

The position of older workers in current debates is described in contradictory ways. One approach is exemplified in international policies supporting extended working life, in which strategies aiming to persuade older people to postpone retirement are advocated (European Commission 2012, 2018). In the same vein, measures are taken by most governments to induce older employees to delay retirement, for example through impeding early exit (Smeaton and White 2016) by creating favourable conditions for continuing to work well beyond retirement age (Krekula et al., 2017), and by making work pay through tax incentives (Vickerstaff & Loretto, 2017). All in all, this rhetoric creates the notion that elderly people are free to shape their labour market participation and that early exit, for example, is a sign that they are egotistical, outdated and ignorant of what is reasonable to expect (Krekula & Vickerstaff, 2017). In other words, this is how the category of older persons is framed and their circumstances largely presented as independent of external factors, that is, as if they act from a position of choice and control (for a discussion see Lain, 2016; Lain et al., 2019; Krekula, 2019).

The description of labour market participation in later life as a simple matter of older workers’ individual choice is contradicted by research emphasising that older workers are part of a precariat with low wages (Standing, 2011); that ageism, in the form of discrimination, negative attitudes and a stereotypical picture of older workers (for the concept see Butler, 1969; Wilkinson & Ferraro, 2002), forces people out of working life (Bennington, 2001; Ilmarinen, 1997, 2006), and that work content factors influence labour market participation in later life (Pohrt & Hasselhorn, 2015; Smeaton & White, 2016). In contrast, this approach thus indicates the need to regard older workers’ labour market participation in relation to organisational practices and discourses.

The latter approach is in line with studies arguing that lived experience of precarity is influenced by the intersection between precarious jobs, precarious welfare states and precarious households (Lain et al., 2019), and that precarity represents a new form of ageing (Grenier et al., 2017). It also constitutes a central assumption in life course studies which emphasises that an individual’s life course is formed in relation to historical developments, social structures and social changes (Elder et al., 2003; Hendricks, 2012). Matilda Riley’s age stratification theory is an early contribution in this direction, arguing that the meaning of ageing is always created in dynamic interaction between social development and the qualities of ageing individuals or groups (1971, 1985). Older people’s work conditions should be understood also in relation to relevant social changes. Krekula (2019) exemplifies this by illustrating that extended working life in physically demanding jobs is often presented as possible as older workers can be given physically easier tasks. This is, however, seldom a feasible option since such tasks have disappeared at the rate of neo-liberal organising of workplaces. This example demonstrates the need to further clarify issues of extended working life from the perspective of the rapid changes taking place in work organisations as well as society at large.

This chapter redresses this lack by discussing transitions to precarity at work among older men in the metal industry, an occupational sector which has undergone large market changes concurrent with the new liberal development. We look into data collected in two countries, namely, Portugal and Sweden, with contrasting historical developments, social structures and social changes, but ultimately exposed to the same global processes imprinted by precarity as a dominant experience in late stages of professional career within this sector.

Older Workers in a Precarious Labour Market

Up until early 2000’s, European governments’ curbed surplus labour by shedding older workers from the labour market through mandatory retirement (Hofäcker, 2010). The increase of life expectancies and the transition from a younger labour force to an older labour force, brought different challenges and policies shifted towards a push for higher labour market participation rates of people at advanced working age and the extension of working lives (as per Barcelona and Lisbon treaties, among others).

The shift towards the extension of working lives was operated under a neo-liberal agenda with increasing labour market deregulation and stripping of the welfare state. The main policy instruments used to retain older workers in the labour market came as reforms of the pension system, namely the increase of statutory retirement ages, stricter eligibility criteria for statutory pensions and restrictions on early retirement (see for a discussion Street & Ní Léime, 2020). These policies take little account of the hurdles that older workers face to keep themselves in the labour market – predominantly those with lower education levels and especially in the context of prolonged negative macroeconomic shocks and jobs shortage (OCDE, 2013) – while shaping precarious careers well into retirement. On the one hand, whilst employed, this age group faces poor age management practices, meaning poorly adjusted jobs and work-related strain with long term health consequences. On the other hand, as unemployment rates for older workers increased regaining access to work means longer times to reemployment and re-entry into lower-quality jobs (Samorodov, 1999). Post-displacement jobs then tend to be of short duration and pay significantly less than lost jobs, with wages reduced for 6 years out or more (Chan & Stevens, 2004). Employers see replacing older workers for younger ones as a cost-saving technique (Roscigno et al., 2007) and older workers are exposed to age discrimination during job hunt (Loreto).

Precarious work also diminishes income flows, and represents a toll on retirement pensions which heightens economic exclusion into older ages (Myck et al., 2017: 11). Ultimately, older workers may exit the labour market through early retirement due to workplace timing for retirement, organizational pressures, financial security, and poor physical and mental health (Topa et al., 2018).

Transitions, the Life Course and Social Change

When we discuss transitions to precarity at work in this chapter, we understand transitions as distinct changes of responsibilities, positions and status (see, e.g., Elder & Johnson, 2003). Transitions create clear borders between what once was and what now is. While transitions are embedded in trajectories, they differ from these in that the latter are based on a gradually developed pattern of stability and change in an individual’s life and also involve several related transitions (Elder & Johnson, 2003). For individuals, transitions can be positive as well as stressful – the latter not least when unexpected (Evans et al., 2009). Elder and Johnson (2003) describe transition as a long-term perspective on individual life courses that highlights trajectories with sequences of different positions, for example, in family and work, while life transitions involve multiple changes in a process of several phases.

The life course perspective became increasingly popular in social sciences after the 1970s, benefiting from theoretical and methodological developments (George, 2003). This approach emphasises the complexity of human lives and examines individual biographies unfolding over time within a wider socio-historical context. It has therefore been used as a framework to examine how changes happening at the contextual level, within social, economic and political structures, tie into opportunities and constraints of social pathways (that is, educational, work and family trajectories) and developmental trajectories of different cohorts (Elder et al., 2003). Broader historical forces such as economic cycles, technological developments or retirement policies, for example, affect institutionalised and individual pathways (Heinz, 2003). Broader trends towards precarisation in the labour market would therefore translate into precarious individual careers.

Some central changes have special relevance to our analysis. A case in point is the comprehensive changes that have taken place in society and working life, which are discussed in relation to concepts such as new economy and neoliberalism, prioritising economic values (Harvey, 2006; Macnicol, 2015), as well as new and rapidly changing information and communication technologies that increase interconnectedness between countries (Sennett, 1999; Standing, 2011). These changes have contributed to a widening of social divisions with increasing inequality between groups of employees, countries and regions (Quah, 2003; Rubery, 2015). The radical economic changes have also contributed to downsizing as a globally established practice since the 1980, resulting in anorectic organisations where staffing is continuously reduced in relation to the demand of the products in question (Radnor & Boaden, 2004; Tyler & Wilkinson, 2007).

The metal and steel industries – the occupational sector focused on in this chapter – have played a key historical role in Europe’s economy and social development. To this day, the European Union is the second largest producer of steel and metal in the world and the European Commission sees this as a strategic industry, having made plans to increase its production levels and fund upskilling of its workers (EC, 2020).

We can trace the centrality of the steel and metal industries in Europe throughout the entirety of the twentieth century. However, it has experienced periods of expansion and investment, followed by periods of crisis and contraction as it intertwines with some of the tensions that led to the Second World War, the “golden years” of the post war period, subsequent economic downturns and economic crisis (such as the oil crisis in the early 1970s), alternating protectionist/ open market policies and European integration.

The consequences of this development are, for instance, noticeable in the fact that for those born in the 1950s in Sweden – one of the two countries discussed in this chapter – who entered the job market in the 1960s, jobs were overall plentiful and youth unemployment rates low even for those with lower educational levels (Ginsburg, 1982). But as the oil crisis hit in the beginning of the ‘70s, the labour market contracted and youth was severely hit by unemployment. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, the second country discussed here, Portugal, went through a period of economic expansion associated with late industrialisation and job growth in industry increased at a rate of around 2.2% per year, up until 1973 (Rocha, 1984). However, as in all European countries, employment in steel industries fell from 1973 onwards (Schneider, 1986).

The decrease in jobs in the metal industry in traditionally industrial regions and countries has been understood from the viewpoint of the deindustrialisation literature that examined the causes and consequences of this long-duration process (see Strangleman & Rhodes, 2014). Job losses in the metal industry may be due to the shedding of industrial capacity, and/or to technological shifts decreasing the need for human labour and certain types of skills. Changes in the economic fabric and (un)employment rates became more prominent in western traditional industrial sectors, occurring at different times for different countries – most noticeable in Sweden and in Portugal by the mid-70s (see Lind, 2011), and brought about labour market instability and profound changes in individuals and how they age, the lives of families and communities, spanning several generations (Strangleman & Rhodes, 2014). Research in the UK and the US shows that deindustrialization challenged work identities, working class culture and even traditional representations of masculinity and femininity (see Strangleman & Rhodes, 2014 for a review of the literature). Working-class males are now demanded to take more responsibility with household chores, as they lose their role as the only/main breadwinner, and women are expected to devote more of their time and energy to their professional career.

Wider economic and social changes have shaped the labour market over the last 50 years. Economic globalisation and the international division of labour meant a decrease in manufacturing jobs for many western countries and constant company restructuring; deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation have contributed to a disruption of stable careers and increased precariousness and instability in the labour market (Buchholz et al., 2006). The advancement of information and communication technologies pose new demands on workers in terms of education and constant training. These changes are particularly challenging for those who, for historical and/or structural factors, are in a disadvantaged position in the labour market – namely older workers with lower educational levels.

Context, Methods and Material

The empirical material centres on men aged 50 and older, working in the metal industry in two national contexts, Portugal and Sweden. Metal industry work is often physically hard, a fact which has been related to early retirement in research (see e.g., Lund & Villadsen, 2005; Pohrt & Hasselhorn, 2015).

The data collected in Portugal were part of a small study that focused on the life histories of men working in the metal industry in a region hit by deindustrialisation. These men were predominantly blue-collar workers, with low educational levels and ages ranging from 55 to 63 years old, thus providing an important insight into the lives of a specific disadvantaged group of workers. The average retirement age in Portugal, at the time of the data collection (2008), was 59.7 years of age (INE, 2020).

For the Portuguese study, the data material analysed was collected in 2009 and consists of interviews with ten men made redundant by companies facing readjustments and bankruptcy at the onset of the 2008 economic crisis. When the interviews were undertaken, the industry was already facing the challenges inherent to globalisation, including competition at the international level, and a decreased demand for labour. Workers in late stages of professional career, in jobs deemed non-business critical, particularly manual jobs, were increasingly being made redundant. Many of these workers had been employed in the same company for more than a decade, some even for 20 years or more. The dataset refers to men that had been working in two different companies in a region that has been experiencing deindustrialisation. One of the companies is family run and has had very little investment or upgrade. It had been barely kept afloat during the ‘90s and the 2008 crisis exposed mismanagement and embezzlement. Most workers were made redundant as the company filed for bankruptcy. The second company has expanded from a small company into a medium-sized one following a period of technological restructuring. A decrease in sales and the uncertainty brought by the 2008 global crisis led to cuts in staff and some workers were made redundant.

The Swedish material derives from a study of how age is used as an organising principle in a large international steel company with a branch in Sweden, a highly male-dominated work organisation. The study comprised participant observation and a total of 29 qualitative interviews with employees in both production and the HR department, collected in 2014, which yielded a detailed picture of the company’s age distribution and terms and conditions of work. Because of the large economic fluctuations in the industry over the last decades as well as several bankruptcies and new ownerships, many of the employees were not employed by the company but by a staffing agency. The analyses in this chapter focus on interviews with three men in their ‘60s, employed via staffing agencies, as this form of employment, in the previous analysis, appeared to be linked to precarious terms of employment. In 2015, the average retirement age for manual workers in the metal industry in Sweden was 64.1, which is somewhat lower than the age of 65, still regarded as the ‘normal retirement age’, and it is almost 4 years below the current highest retirement age of 68, which is seen as necessary in order to qualify for a reasonable pension (Andersson, 2015).

Data collection and analysis in the two studies aim to clarify the processes in question from the respondents’ perspectives (Blaikie, 2007). Both cohorts, living in Sweden and Portugal respectively, will have been exposed to the same global trends that the industry has experienced in Europe. However, their life histories and professional trajectories unfold in different institutional-organizational, socioeconomic and political contexts, even if subjected to the same global trends (fluctuations in the metal industry, deindustrialization and employment crisis and globalization). These contexts may prove to be key in sustaining opportunities and constraints affecting individual trajectories or, on the contrary, workers in metal and steel industries precariousness reflects a global overarching trend.

Precariousness and Disadvantage in Portugal

This section focuses on experiences of (un)employment of 55 plus of unemployed Portuguese men, while highlighting aspects that translate into precarity and disadvantage late career. We illustrate, from the workers’ point of view, how work strain, due to absent age management practices, as well as the introduction of new technologies in the workplace, were conducive to precariousness and low chances of labour market retention in a context of economic crisis and company restructuring. We also describe how transitions into unemployment in later stages of professional careers disrupt a stable professional trajectory and turn into income precarity and uncertainty well into the future.

Age Management, Work Strain and “Obsolescence”

For workers close to the statutory retirement age being made redundant meant something similar to an “early retirement” arrangement. They were entitled to unemployment benefits (which meant a variable income cut) up until they were eligible to retire and, in order to receive these benefits they were asked to collect stamps on a card from companies, stating that they had sought work there. Getting those stamps was merely going through the motions for them, and respondents describe that none of the parties involved (employers, job centre and the respondents themselves) actually expected them to find a job as they were deemed “too old to work”. Those a bit younger, with fewer years of contributions and not eligible for a pension before their unemployment benefit expired had to make their way as actual job seekers into a competitive labour market. Being asked to look for work was seen as degrading and they saw themselves as being exposed to age discrimination since “no one wants us at this age! They [employers] just laugh at me when I ask them for a job!”.

As workers age, working conditions that affect health, safety and work management may determine working ability and employability (Walker, 2005). In order to extend working lives, companies need to put in place effective age management policies and practices that take into account individual needs and allow for flexible work arrangements, ergonomic and workload adjustments, continuing education and training (Ilmarinen & Rantanen, 1999; Ghosheh et al., 2006). This is not, however, the case when companies fail to meet the workers’ needs. Poor working conditions is one of the faces of precarity at work.

A 61-year-old former assembly line worker included in the study illustrated how his position within the company he worked for had increased demands over the years as he maintained the same tasks and workload.

I worked for over 48 years (…) they wanted to kill me there, working. Now that I am older, I need to rest. Retirement should be before 60 years old, at least for those that work in captivity (referring to work done inside an enclosed space, the factory). (…) that place is a sauna, with a zinc roof. And I worked all day long, on my feet, on the assembly line… one gets to an age… I was stuck in there to be paid 500 euros.

This cohort of workers, born in the ‘50s, had their formative years during the fascist dictatorship (1926–1974) that deliberately disinvested in education and children usually only spent 4 years in school. After 1974, with the implementation of a democratic regime, access to secondary and post-secondary education became the norm. The educational lag between generations adds to the structural disadvantage that older cohorts with typically lower levels of education may face. One respondent gave an example of this when he referred to the lack of opportunities to develop new skills and access to on-the-job training, including handling new information technology. His work experience and accumulated knowledge as a manual worker was regarded as obsolete in a company that had incremented several technological upgrades. In the face of job loss, he saw very little prospects of getting a new job that adjusted to his skills and needs.

I started working straight out of 4 years of basic school (…) Everybody does what I did. I was on the assembly line. If I was on the press shop that would have been more complicated and I would have needed to work with a computer (and they would have trained him) (…) who will want me now (referring to his reemployment]?

The metal industry was a key sector for employment in Portugal up until the early ‘90s (Costa & Costa, 1996). However, with a low degree of modernisation, many companies struggled to face competitors in an open market economy – especially after integration in the European Economic Community in 1986 (Costa & Costa, 1996). The potentially higher wage costs, acquired seniority rights and qualification deficiencies make older workers less appealing to employers in the face of pressures to adjust size, qualification levels and flexibility in an increasingly volatile economy (Hofäcker, 2010). These workers are pushed out of the labour market through early retirement, unemployment and invalidity schemes (Hofäcker, 2010). A former worker described how he experienced a fall in production over the years and how he anticipated redundancy because of downsizing.

The company struggled to keep afloat. You know, they (the owners) didn’t buy new machines, they didn’t put any money in the company. It was dirty, falling to pieces… a dump (…) Over the years there was less and less work. I hid where I could, I was put to the side… When they offered me redundancy, I just wanted to leave. I took the money [severance payment] and now I’m just waiting to retire.

Redundancy and Precarity

Portuguese working class men born in the ‘50s developed expectations regarding their professional career in a period of relative industrial expansion. In Europe, jobs and apprenticeships were easy to find, professional careers were relatively stable and even facing historically low wages they still had more available income (Heinz, 2003) – many were the first in generations to have access to the property market. They had access to mortgages and planned their lives with a tight, but stable, income. However, as the 2008 economic crisis hit, ultimately leading to their job loss, they faced a very different labour marked with few jobs available and gloomy prospects in the metal industry. A 59-year-old mechanic lathe worker explained how after working nearly 40 years in the same company, he was made redundant, disrupting his otherwise foreseeable trajectory of retiring with a full pension and how chances for reemployment were perceived as slim:

I started to work here when I was 20. My wife got me the job. I never thought I would be in this situation. I worked more and more, money was coming in. It wasn’t much, but I paid my bills. We lived an honest life. Now I see myself in this situation and with no money (…). I have to get it from our savings, those will end, and I will never get them back. I had another 6 years before retiring and paying my loans. But there are just no jobs. If there are so many young people looking for jobs and can’t find them, how is anyone going to give someone a job at 59? I know that’s it for me.

The accounts from respondents included in this small study have highlighted some of the issues a cohort of manual workers with lower qualifications men faced in Portugal over their professional trajectory. Years of harsh manual labour resulted in added strain and the will and even the physical need to be off work, even if through unemployment or early retirement. The lack of opportunities to access formal education and on the job training translated into a disadvantaged position in the labour market, not just in terms of career progression, but also while trying to maintain themselves in employment as different technologies are introduced in the workplace. After being made redundant, they had slim chances of regaining access to the labour market and the only avenue to maintain some income was through unemployment benefits and early retirement, even if that meant income cuts on an already very meagre income.

Precarious Work Lives Asynchronous with Global Labour Market Changes in Sweden

The Swedish material focused on a company with a long and chequered history, characterised by the global features of the metal industry with market fluctuations and organisational austerity. Once a local company, it has since undergone several ownership changes and reorganisations and was in the year of the study part of a leading international company. According to the respondents, the current owners of the company did not engage in worker participation for decision making and also minor decisions (such as recruitment) were made at the international headquarters and not at the local Swedish office: “People were laid off as recently as last summer by demand of the international owners, which means that we can’t do anything although there’s a need for staff”. As a result of this central decision, the local management resorted to staffing agencies to solve staffing needs.

Being employed by a staffing agency at an old age appeared to be an involuntary form of employment: “The hardest thing is to be hired staff even though we have been working in the metal workshop for thirty years. That’s life today – staffing agencies rule. No one employs people anymore”. This form of precarious employment was also described as lower-ranked than permanent employment and not fully accepted as part of the workplace. This was evident in statements such as “I work for another firm now but only as hired staff”.

Below, we illustrate the precarity created by employment via a staffing agency for the interviewed men, and how terms of employment are set in the contexts of metal industry global changes as well as organisational ideals and ideologies. Our analysis focuses on three respondents who share the situation of having started their careers in the company, where they are now employed as hired staff via a staffing agency.

A Precarious Form of Employment

The precarity of being staffing agency employed involved several domains, such as financial, social, and personal in the sense of not being able to shape the future.

Financial vulnerability was manifested in statements on job hunting. A 59-year-old welder described his situation as follows:

The money must come in, you know. Unemployment benefit is only 9 000 [SEK]. It’s not easy to make ends meet on 9 000. So, I am listed with six, seven agencies. When a project comes to an end, I call to say that I’m available now.

Added to this, there was anxiety concerning access to unemployment benefit for the days not working, which the following quotation demonstrates:

For me, a job is to make money, to be able to live on my job. Then there’s no labour exchange meddling with me and my affairs. Because you can’t understand them either. That’s the biggest problem, really. Now I’ve figured out that I’ve used unemployment benefit for 23 days in five months. And that’s not a lot. And yet they chase me. And I ask, do you think that I work too little? No, you’ve worked a great deal. But why are you on my back then?

The pursuit of livelihood also makes it nearly impossible to decline a job offer. The material includes remarks about “those scared of heights but take on jobs 70 metres up in the air” and about “not daring to decline job offers involving long travels” and “taking on really poor jobs” that no one else wants to do.

There are also narratives of social vulnerability – or the incapacity to cope with the multiple stressors they find. A case in point is exemplified in the quotation below on project work involving long absence from home:

You work a shift of between twelve and maybe eighteen hours. And then you would eat breakfast in the morning. And then you would take a shower and go to the hotel in the evening. And then there’s nothing.

Social vulnerability also emerged in the sense of non-belonging at work. A 63-year-old respondent’s account shows that there is a distinct difference when everyone in his work team is a hired staff member. Asked to sketch the management structure on a piece of paper, he hesitated and said: “It is hard because I’m not part of the organisation and then it’s difficult to recognise people”.

A third manifestation of precariousness in our material is evident in descriptions of the inability to shape futures. A 58-year-old hired adviser, who in the previous year had worked abroad for 10 months, indicated this by saying that he could not continue assignments for this company when he no longer can or wanted to travel: “Then I’ll have to find a job elsewhere, because my job [for this company] is to travel”. A further example of future uncertainty is provided in the quotation below regarding retirement age:

I’ve roughly two years to go. So, it depends. If there is a job here, then I’ll stay on ‘till I’m 65. It’s a good job. I like it a lot. But if the project here comes to an end and I’m forced to take travelling jobs, which I used to, then I think I’ll take early retirement. So, it depends on that.

This “either-or-perspective” on approaching retirement age is the result of the respondent’s belief that permanent employment is out of the question, since “no one will employ a 60-year-old in heavy industry”. This line of thinking shows that uncertainties about the future are related to high chronological age in a physically hard occupation, in which, as mentioned, down-sized organisations are created through hired staff. This is consistent with Krekula’s (2019) argument that ageism can have a central role in creating social insecurity among older workers.

Transition towards Precarious Employment

When the respondents described the company’s down-sizing efforts, they repeatedly related their own redundancy to changes in the company. A 63-year-old former fitter and welder in the company provided an example of this, as follows:

Many people were made redundant, both white-collar workers and others. They started down-sizing as early as in 2008 and then in 2009 and 2010 they reduced again by half. The number of staff was reduced all the time. I suppose it had something to do with employment orders. It’s got to be that, because I worked there until 2010. We were around sixty men there then. Today, there are eighteen left, I think. So, there’s something left, actually. Then I was given notice in 2010.

This respondent also stated that his 40-year employment was not enough to remain in the company as the redundancy affected departments differently. In 2010, he was working in a department responsible for new production while the company only wanted to retain service and maintenance. Concurrent with the dismissal of welders, foundry men and fitters in various periods, there were people who could stay on because they were in departments that new owners wished to keep, such as maintenance and management functions. This illustrates how the paths from permanent employment to project staff via staffing agencies were integrated in the reorganisation of operations made by various owners.

The same respondent described the steps from his dismissal at the age of 57 to his current position as follows:

Then I started at the subcontracting company and worked there for one and a half years. Then there were reductions, so I was unemployed again. Then I started at Staffing Agency1 and was there until last year when this agency closed down and I was unemployed again. Then I worked for Staffing Agency 2. [ ] I started there in October, I think. I did a job for a week. Then I was at Staffing Agency 3, so there were many periods, you know, before I returned here but now as hired staff.

This working life pattern is not unique. A 59-year-old fitter described a similar transition from permanent employment to project employment via various staffing agencies. He was employed, aged 21, in 1978 at the company in question and remained there through several reorganisations and change of ownership. The following quotation describes his trajectory from a permanent employee to hired staff at the same company:

The redundancies were made on three occasions, and they dismissed 80–90 men each time. That takes us to 2009. Then I was given notice. What the heck did I do then? Well, I started at Staffing Agency1, as tester and controller. I worked there for one and a half year. Then I started at the subcontracting company where I worked for two years assembling big machinery. Then I was given notice and started at Staffing Agency 2. Then I was also placed at this company. And I worked there till 2015, as it were. And then I started on a project here again in 2016.

At a general level, the results above illustrate the precarious situation that arises from employment via staffing agencies in this company, where duties often entail physically demanding work as well as long-term stays far from home. They also highlight how transition from permanent employment via staffing agencies is based on company restructuring. Even if the transition is not based on (high) age, the respondents’ reflections reveal that a precarious position may take on new meanings at a high age, for example, in the form of viewing a premature retirement as a last resort to avoid having to commit to duties perceived as too demanding or too curtailing of daily life. This is consistent with previous observations (see e.g. Riley, 1971, 1985) that the meanings of age are created in relation to social development, thus emphasising that the same applies to the precariousness among older workers.

Concluding Remarks

Based on qualitative interviews with men working in the metal and steel industry in Portugal and Sweden respectively, we have, in this chapter, clarified how social and organisational changes relate to older workers’ positions. We have also shown that, even if precariousness is the result of political and social circumstances and changed ideals and ideologies in the labour market, these changes interact with conceptions of the elderly as problematic, less employable, and as deviating from normative ideals of the ideal worker. This bears witness to the fruitfulness of life course analysis, centring on transitions and trajectories while taking social and organisational circumstances and changes into account when analysing older people’s employment and working conditions.

Portugal and Sweden account for different institutional-organisational, socioeconomic, and political contexts, which means that the two national contexts have contributed broadly to displaying the meanings of social, political, and organisational changes. The empirical material further shows the great similarities in the creation of precariousness in the two national contexts, particularly towards the last years of the men’s professional career at a stage when they might be deemed “older workers”. Precariousness presents itself in both contexts as work related strain and inadequate working conditions, poor access to on-the-job training, redundancy and layoffs, income cuts, agency work, social vulnerability and ultimately instability and uncertainty. Even if in the case of Portugal, the data reports to 2009, the narratives around precarious trajectories in late professional career had the same underpinnings then, as they do now: redundancy in late career is still associated with longer unemployment spells and pension cuts. Economic and technologic shifts, alongside pervasive poor age management practices represent a significative strain and bring about labour market and financial uncertainty.

Taken together, this chapter highlights how economic expanding and contracting cycles and employment opportunities offered and removed respectively, have turned secure employment into insecure employment in Portugal as well as in Sweden. In particular, the chapter draws attention to how deindustrialisation in the metal and steel industry and the technological developments involved, together with neo-liberal ideals and ageism paved the way for precarious positions in the labour market in the later stages of workers’ professional careers.