Mature Workers, Training and Using Transitional Labour Market Frameworks

By Linda Hancock

Mature workers have been at the centre of policies aimed at encouraging higher participation rates, longer working life and enhanced savings for retirement.

Low mature age worker participation rates reflect labour market withdrawal in the face of barriers to entry. This apparent voluntary joblessness masks the fact the mature workers endure longer periods of unemployment, discrimination, redundancy and other barriers to entry. The policy dilemma is not just about addressing discrimination barriers, access to appropriate retraining or skills enhancement for mature workers, but what this tells us about lifelong learning as a means of managing and mitigating risk. Drawing on Transitional Labour Market (TLM) theory and European reform agendas, this article argues that the link between investment in lifelong education/skills training and stronger labour market participation needs attention.

(Australian Bulletin of Labour; vol. 32, no. 3, 2006)