The worn-out syndrome: Uncertainties in late working life triggering retirement decisions

The extension of working lives is a significant policy concern in Western Europe. While quantitative research on retirement decisions is abundant, qualitative studies are lacking. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the intricate pathways leading to retirement among senior employees in Denmark's finance and production sectors. Existing literature often uses push-and-pull frameworks, jump, stuck, and stay models to explain retirement decisions, primarily relying on quantitative data. These models, while valuable, lack the nuanced understanding provided by qualitative methods. This study aims to address this limitation by examining the collective and individual negotiations and practices preceding retirement decisions. Through ethnographic fieldwork (2019-2021), the researchers interviewed and observed senior workers, managers, HR staff, shop stewards, and retirees in eight small-to-medium sized companies. The researchers focused on understanding what constitutes a 'good' senior working life and aimed to uncover the implicit and subtle negotiations surrounding the extension or termination of working lives. The researchers posit that, when studied qualitatively, the transition between working life and retirement reveals itself as a liminal phase marked by constant uncertainty. While previous research has acknowledged that managing this uncertainty is socially structured and influenced by factors like health, finances, and social background, this study demonstrates a previously unexplored aspect of this uncertainty, specifically within the context of the finance industry. The researchers found a higher prevalence of uncertainty among white-collar workers in the finance industry compared to blue-collar workers in the production industry, thus focusing their analysis on the finance sector. This sector has faced considerable transformation in recent years, marked by increased regulation, digitalization, and downsizing, alongside challenges related to employee mental health and stress. This context likely contributes to the heightened uncertainty observed.

The study builds upon existing research on age stereotypes in the workplace, which often portrays older workers as less productive, less motivated, resistant to change, and possessing a lower learning capacity. The researchers acknowledge that these stereotypes are frequently held by both older workers themselves (age metastereotypes) and younger colleagues. This self-stereotyping has been linked to early retirement intentions. The authors connect their findings to the concept of perceived work ability, which is an individual's self-perception of their ability to continue working and influenced by personal factors (health, control) and stereotypical notions of older workers. The paper further draws parallels between the 'worn-out syndrome' and the 'impostor syndrome,' noting similarities in the feelings of inadequacy but highlighting a key difference: in worn-out syndrome, individuals are generally confident in their skills, unlike those experiencing impostor syndrome. The study's focus on the Danish labor market and its unique welfare system, characterized by universal pensions and collective bargaining agreements that increasingly include senior worker rights, is also discussed within the context of current research on retirement pathways which increasingly include gradual retirement, bridge employment, entrepreneurship, and unretirement. The complexities of individualized retirement decisions and the challenges this poses to managers are also addressed in the literature review.

The research employed a qualitative ethnographic approach, involving semi-structured interviews (N=92) and participant observations (N=25). Data was collected from December 2019 to March 2020 and April to October 2021 from eight small-to-medium sized companies in the finance (five companies) and production (three companies) industries in Denmark. Participants included senior workers (44), retirees (8), shop stewards (2), HR employees (8), managers (23), and representatives from unions and pension funds (7). The companies were purposively sampled based on existing senior policies or articulated approaches to managing older workers, focusing on companies that had been nominated for a "senior workplace of the year" award. The interviews explored senior working life, workplace politics, community, and future plans. All participants provided informed consent. Data analysis involved verbatim transcriptions, coding using NVivo, analytic workshops employing constant comparison and inductive coding, and analytic induction to refine hypotheses. The researchers participated moderately in the workplaces, observing daily life, values, and practices. The youngest senior participant was 58, and the oldest was 70. The research adheres to ethical guidelines for ethnographic fieldwork.

The study's central finding is the identification and conceptualization of "worn-out syndrome." This syndrome manifests in three ways: 1. **Uncertainty regarding present performance:** Senior employees experience uncertainty about their current job performance, often questioning their ability to meet expectations. This uncertainty can be triggered by specific events (e.g., difficulty learning new software) or a general feeling of decline. Some compensate by working extra hours to mask any perceived deficiencies. 2. **Uncertainty regarding colleagues' and/or managers' perceptions:** Senior employees worry about how their colleagues and managers perceive them, fearing negative judgments or that their performance is being negatively compared to younger colleagues. This fear is often fueled by implicit or explicit ageist stereotypes, even when there is no direct evidence of negative evaluations. This includes instances where colleagues or managers make casual remarks about their impending retirement, or where their contributions are subtly dismissed in favor of younger colleagues. 3. **Uncertainty regarding future status:** Senior employees are concerned about future decline and their ability to recognize it before it negatively impacts their performance. They fear becoming like past colleagues who retired too late, causing disruption and leaving behind a negative perception. This manifestation includes an inherent concern with preserving their reputation and leaving their roles with dignity. This finding highlights that retirement planning in senior workers appears to be based more on anticipating a decline rather than actual observed decline. This fear is fueled by a societal perception of aging and a corresponding absence of a tolerance of decline in the workplace. The study highlights a significant contrast: while senior employees are often highly valued by their colleagues and managers, the "worn-out syndrome" still leads to premature retirement decisions. This is partially due to a cultural perception of inevitable decline in professional capability, potentially influenced by societal stereotypes.

The findings demonstrate that ageist stereotypes, often implicit, significantly influence senior employees' self-perceptions and retirement decisions. The study highlights how the contemporary labor market, with its emphasis on continuous productivity, has limited tolerance for perceived decline, even when senior employees possess extensive expertise. The 'worn-out syndrome' challenges the effectiveness of gradual retirement programs, as participation might be perceived as an admission of declining abilities. The paper also discusses the differences in how "worn out" is perceived between finance and production sectors, suggesting the syndrome might be more prevalent in mentally demanding roles. The researchers suggest that politicizing cognitive decline and mental health in the finance sector is crucial to counteract the syndrome. The study's implications lie in the need for organizations to actively address ageist stereotypes and create supportive environments that value experience and accommodate the natural aging process, thereby enabling senior employees to make autonomous and well-informed retirement choices.

This study introduces the concept of "worn-out syndrome," a significant factor in the untimely retirement decisions of senior employees, particularly in the finance sector. This syndrome, fueled by ageist stereotypes and a lack of tolerance for perceived decline, manifests in fears about current performance, perceptions of others, and future decline. The findings highlight the need for workplaces to foster inclusive environments that value the experience of senior employees and better accommodate the aging process. Future research could investigate the effectiveness of interventions designed to mitigate the effects of worn-out syndrome and explore the prevalence of this syndrome across diverse industries and occupational roles.

The study's findings are based on a sample of small-to-medium sized companies in Denmark's finance and production industries and may not be generalizable to larger organizations or other national contexts. The purposive sampling strategy, while effective for studying companies with existing senior policies, may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should investigate the prevalence of the worn-out syndrome in diverse settings and populations.