The Role of Age in Career Progression: Motivation and Barriers to Fulfilment in Older Employees

Abstract

For the majority of older employees the workplace today is very different from what it was when they started their career. Restructuring and globalisation have created flatter and less hierarchical organisations with fewer promotional opportunities and reduced security of tenure (Wilson and Davies 1999). This, in turn, has redistributed responsibility for career progression from employers to employees themselves (Baruch 2006). These changes affect all employees, but for those who are categorised as ‘older’ they may be compounded by wide-ranging additional changes occurring because of, or in association with, the ageing process (Kanfer and Ackerman 2004).