Abstract
While operational firefighters in the UK fire and rescue service traditionally retired in their 50s, their working lives are now extending. However, external pressures and the emotional and physical demands of firefighting work, lead to questions about whether operational firefighters will be able to extend their working lives. In this article, we engage with Van der Klink et al.’s sustainable employability model, which focuses on situations that allow individuals to make valuable contributions through their work and reveal how working lives can be extended. We consider implications of the characteristics of operational firefighting work, individual circumstances and contextual factors for the extension of working lives. Drawing on interviews conducted with firefighters, crew managers and watch managers working in a UK fire and rescue service, we highlight the unsustainability of many future working lives because of wellbeing and organisational pressures.
Highlights
Public policy internationally has encouraged extended working lives (EWLs) beyond ‘traditional’ retirement ages (Sinclair et al, 2013)
Organised around the building blocks of the sustainable employability model (SEM), we consider the factors which may influence the ability and willingness of operational firefighters to extend working lives. This highlights the commitment of operational firefighters and how this is balanced against operational demands, organisational practices and EWLs policy
Building on SEM, which is derived from the Capability Approach (CA) (Sen, 2003; Van der Klink et al, 2016) as a theoretical base, we have argued that the EWLs of operational firefighters can only be achieved if they have the capabilities to remain in work and perceive firefighting work as valuable functioning
Summary
Public policy internationally has encouraged extended working lives (EWLs) beyond ‘traditional’ retirement ages (Sinclair et al, 2013). ‘Early’ retirement ages previously incentivised many working in the fire and rescue service (FRS) (Bracken-Scally et al, 2016). The UK-FRS workforce is ageing, as firefighters retire later and fewer (younger) firefighters are recruited (Bateman et al, 2016; NFCC, 2016). Existing research has discussed the issues facing, and contributions, of older firefighters (Bracken-Scally et al, 2016; Kragt, 2019; Kragt et al, 2017; Pickerden, 2013, 2018). There is a paucity of research on the implications of an ageing UK-FRS workforce. While there is service-level acknowledgement of workforce ageing (NFCC, 2016), no consideration has been made of how to sustainably achieve EWLs
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