Chefers attityder mot äldre anställda: en explorativ studie i det privata näringslivet

Sammanfattning: As life expectancy increases, new demands are placed on the labor market. There are too few people to support our aging population, and to address this issue, we need to work until an older age. Managers play a crucial role, which is why this study aimed to examine managers' attitudes toward their older employees and their views on opportunities for extended working lives. The aim was also to explore if there were attitude differences based on age and gender. To investigate this, a survey was conducted in spring 2023, involving 68 managers in the private sector in Sweden. The survey was based on the Sustainable Working Life for all Ages (swAge) model and the Nordic Age Discrimination Scale (NADS). The results indicated that managers do not perceive themselves as having any age discriminatory attitudes toward their older employees, despite previous research indicating its existence. One potential explanation offered by this study is that managers may be influenced by various cognitive biases. While politicians are implementing various efforts within the pension system to extend the working lives of older employees, neither public nor private sector managers believe that reduced pensions are the solution. However, the participants strongly agreed with other factors that, according to the swAge model, increase the possibility of working until an older age and believed that these factors already existed in their workplaces. Thus, there seems to be a lack of common understanding regarding the societal issue we face, which complicates the efforts towards an extended working life.