Who Wants to be a Working Retiree? Prerequisites and Working Conditions for People Combining Work and Retirement in the Temporary Staffing Sector

Research problem and specific questions

This project explores the employment landscape of non-standard employment (NSE) tailored for working retirees in Sweden, focusing on the temporary staffing sector. Today, NSEs for seniors are a contemporary feature of a labour market on the rise. However, knowledge is limited of the quality of work as well as the experiences working in such employment settings. With a strong societal strive for a prolonged working life, it is a vital research task to study and map how working conditions for working retirees evolve. Therefore, this project seeks to understand (1) how the employment history of working retirees shapes their trajectory toward non-standard employment in the temporary staffing sector, and (2) working retirees’ experiences of non-standard employment regarding working conditions, including job autonomy, income, work safety, health, motives, work fulfilment, and the employee-employer relationship.

Data and method

This project will merge longitudinal register and survey data with qualitative in-depth interview data of working retirees employed in the temporary staffing sector. Employing an explorative mixed-methods approach, this study will contrast statistical trends with individual narratives to uncover unique patterns and relationships. These insights, potentially obscured in isolated studies, will emerge through the synergistic analysis of quantitative and qualitative data.

Societal relevance and utilisation

The high level of scientific impact that this project will have is equally matched by the societal relevance it will have in the wider community for policymakers, employers, unions, and NGOs with a focus on working retirees. By providing valuable knowledge of the characteristics of working retirees and working conditions in this evolving employment landscape, we will also provide information on how to ensure a sustainable and equitable prolonged working life, for both older and younger workers.

Plan for project realisation

This three-year project has great conditions for the implementation because (1) the quantitative register and survey data are already in place and ready to be processed, and (2) one of the largest Swedish temporary staffing agencies has agreed for us to use their channels to recruit participants for the qualitative study. The costs mainly consist of the salaries of the multidisciplinary research team, the qualitative data collection and travel expenses.

In this project, we examine the prerequisites and working conditions for working retirees with non-standard employment (NSE) in the temporary staffing sector. In the societal strive for a prolonged working life, NSEs tailored for working retirees, i.e. on-demand work, are becoming increasingly common and a contemporary feature of a labour market segment on the rise.

NSEs present both opportunities and challenges for older workers. They offer flexibility and additional income, serving as a bridge to retirement. However, NSEs also come with greater job insecurity, potentially poorer working conditions, and increased stress. While NSEs may be necessary for some older adults to avoid old age poverty, the impact of these employments on this demographic is less studied. Most research on temporary, on-demand, and gig work focuses on younger workers at earlier career stages, who differ from older workers in terms of human capital, employment experiences, and economic dependence. This raises questions about how NSEs affect this age group and the applicability of existing findings to their circumstances.

With a life course perspective, we will use a mixed-methods approach to contrast statistical trends with individual narratives to uncover unique patterns and relationships. This includes analyses of employment history, job autonomy, gender and socioeconomic inequalities, health, work fulfilment, and the employee-employer relationship. Two overarching research questions are addressed: (1) How does the employment history of working retirees shape trajectories towards non-standard employment in the temporary staffing sector? and (2) How do working retirees experience the working conditions of non-standard employment, such as job autonomy, income, work safety, health, motives, work fulfilment, and the employee-employer relationship?

The project combines quantitative (survey and registers) and qualitative (in-depth interviews) data. By doing so, the project contributes to a broader understanding of the societal implications arising from prolonged working life and the changing working arrangements in the Swedish labour market. The significance of this research is vital to ensure an equitable, long and sustainable working life for both younger and older people, as well as offer insights for designing targeted policies that support the well-being, economic stability and work safety of older workers in the new employment landscape.