The Occupational Retention and Recruitment of Older Men: The Influence of Structural Characteristics of Work

Abstract

This study examines the effects of structural characteristics of occupations on the occupational retention and recruitment rates of older male workers. Based on transition rates reflecting occupational labor force status movements, the results indicate that movement out of the labor force is lowest in occupations characterized by high growth, substantively complex work, and low physical demands; movement to a different occupation is lowest in occupations with high growth and low levels of self-employment. Entry into the labor force is highest in occupations characterized by high levels of manipulative skill, a high concentration of elderly workers, and a low gap in earnings between younger and older workers; older men leaving their current occupation for other occupations tend to enter occupations characterized by low levels of social skill, high growth, a high concentration of elderly workers, and a large gap in earnings between younger and older workers. This study examines factors influencing the occupational retention and recruitment of older male workers. The major aim is to provide information regarding the linkage between the retention and recruitment of this cohort and the nature of work in the occupation. Past research has shown how the maintenance of an occupation's work force is a consequence of its recruitment and retention of workers from different age cohorts (Simpson et al.) and that the specific age-patterns of occupational recruitment and