Circunstancias Agravantes

As suggested by Winefield et al. (1993) general career theories are also relevant in trying to understand the nature of unemployment for “mature workers” in particular. Brewington and Nassar-McMillan (2000) note that several developmental theories address the relationship between life stages, aging, and career progress. Life is often viewed as a series of stages: childhood and adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. Society and cultures have expectations that people achieve certain things and pass through certain stages at specific times. When events occur at ages that are perceived as inappropriate, transitions are likely to be difficult. A good example of why job loss and involuntary career change are so difficult for mature workers, it is suggested, is Super’s theory (Super, Savicskas & Super, 1996).

Super’s theory follows a developmental perspective describing stages from childhood through to retirement where people go through mini-cycles of career development within each of the basic career stages of growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance and disengagement on a smaller scale. The maintenance stage of a person’s career, ordinarily from about 45 through 64 years of age, involves holding on, keeping up, and innovating in one’s occupation (Super et al., 1996). For individuals who lost their jobs it often becomes necessary to revert to prior stages of career development. In such situations, innovation is replaced by more elemental survival tactics such as networking to find an alternative career, an exploration task that begins the recycling process.

When mature workers return to earlier career stages they often feel as if they are starting over. The resulting loss of identity and social support can be psychologically distressing.

The disengagement stage, which usually begins around age 65 is characterised by deceleration, retirement planning, retirement living, turning tasks over to younger colleagues, and a decrease in energy and interest in one’s occupation (Super et al., 1996). If job loss occurs before retirement plans are completed the worker may feel as though prior efforts to prepare for the future were futile and he or she may experience a deep sense of grief and loss (Brewington & Nassar-McMillan, 2000).

Holland’s career theory involves identifying personality styles and preferences and matching them to the work environment. This theory provides additional insight into the impact of job loss on mature workers. According to Holland (1997), people seek occupations that match their personalities. When personal characteristics become incompatible with occupational demands, change will occur. Workers whose personalities are congruent with their work environments are likely to be satisfied with their jobs and to remain employed. The longer a person stays with a job the more the congruency is reinforced and the match is strengthened. As a result change becomes increasingly difficult (Holland, 1997).

Careers typically have continuity. That is, people are likely to move between jobs that have similar characteristics. Vocational interests and aspirations have been shown to become more stable as a person ages (Holland, 1996). Occupation is a major source of identity for people of all ages. When a person changes such as those associated with aging, or shifts in labour market trends resulting in layoffs of mature workers make it difficult or impossible for a person to continue in a career with which her or she is congruent, the person loses his or her sense of belonging and identity and may suffer intensely (Brewington & Nassar-McMillan, 2000).

6.2 Empirical evidence

Studies of unemployment basically show that unemployment is associated with higher levels of mental distress (Feather, 1990; Warr, 1984; Warr, Jackson and Banks, 1988; Winefield, Tiggeman, Winefield and Goldney, 1991). Studies have identified specific aspects of psychological well-being that may be more seriously affected by the experience of unemployment. These include heightened anxiety (Shamir, 1986; Theodossiou, 1998), depression (Shamir, 1986; O’Brien and Feather, 1990) and a loss of

confidence and morale (Shamir, 1986; O’Brien and Feather, 1990). People are generally happier and more satisfied with their life if they are in fulfilling employment rather than when they are unemployed (O’Brien and Feather, 1990).

An alternative view provided by Schaufeli and Vanyperen (1993) suggests that it is not self-evident that psychological distress is a consequence of a negative life-event such as unemployment. In contrast there are some studies that support the “reverse causation interpretation” (Kasl, 1982), which maintains that a high level of psychological distress is likely to lead to prolonged unemployment, and a low level of distress increases the chances of future employment.

Dooley, Catalano and Brownell (1986) note no difference was found in the level of depression between the employed and unemployed after controlling for initial depressed mood. The best predictor of follow up depression appeared to be initial depression. Mixed findings were obtained by Winefield and Tiggeman (1985) who found that in a large sample of 1000 intended school leavers, depressed mood and self-esteem were both antecedents as well as effects of unemployment. There appears to be some evidence that psychological distress is a pre-disposing factor of unemployment. However, other studies suggest that objective factors including age, sex and length of unemployment are also crucial determinants of being successful in finding a job (Feather, 1990).

Finally, some studies suggest that while the unemployed suffer in some aspects of their psychological wellbeing they do not suffer any detriment to their self-esteem (Hartley, 1980; Rothwell & Williams, 1983; Sharmir, 1986). These authors suggest that self- esteem is a more stable property than other malleable contructs of a person’s self-concept. Conversely, others have found evidence suggesting that unemployment does adversely affect self-esteem (Sheeran & McCarthy, 1992; Winefield Tiggeman Winefield & Goldney, 1993). It is argued, however, that the samples of Hartley (1980) and Shamir (1986) comprised highly skilled workers and are not representative of general populations. What many of these studies appear to show is a tremendous diversity with regards to human behaviour and the effects of unemployment: a point vigorously argued by Winefield et al. (1993).

6.3 Gender

The research has largely concentrated on male job losers; women have seldom constituted a significant portion of the samples in these studies (Bartell & Bartell, 1985; Harris, Heller, & Braddock, 1988). To the extent that women have been represented in studies of job loss, they appear primarily in the role of wives to unemployed male workers (Dew, Bromet, & Schulberg, 1987; Liem & Liem, 1988). This lack of attention on women who lose their jobs, argues Leana and Feldman (1992) may say much about common stereotypes regarding the importance of work for women. Women are assumed to be better able to adjust to job loss because work is seen as less central women’s identities than it is to men’s (Ginn & Arber, 1995).

As Bartell and Bartell (1985) have suggested, men are seen as having little choice but to plan their lives around work, whereas women are seen to have the additional option of planning their lives around home and family (Ginn & Arber, 1995). Thus, financial considerations aside, women are assumed to fare better psychologically after a job loss than their male counterparts because their loss is not expected to be as complete (Ginn & Arber, 1996). Finally, women as a group are disproportionately represented at the bottom of authority, reward, and status hierarchies at work. When they lose their jobs, the loss is not seen to be as important as job loss is to men since the jobs themselves are not seen to be as important as traditional male jobs (Marshall, 1984).

Bartell and Bartell (1985) also suggest the effects of unemployment on women are at least likely to be as complex as those on men, and probably even more so due to mediating factors such as family status, alternate income sources, and shifting societal expectations. Women who are married or secondary wage earners, for example, may not react as negatively to job loss as men, while women who are single or recent entrants into traditional male jobs may respond even more negatively due to the centrality of jobs to their lives (Warr & Parry, 1982) their greater difficulty in finding suitable replacement jobs (Novak & Snyder, 1983), or their sole responsibility for dependent children (Leanna & Feldman, 1991). There is some literature that also suggests that women may use different methods of coping with job loss than men.

For example, Leanna and Feldman (1988) have suggested that men may be more likely than women to cope through problem-focused activities, that is, behaviours that attempt to directly eliminate the source of the stress (here, job loss) such as job search, retraining and relocation. In contrast Harris et al. (1988) have suggested that women may be more likely to rely on social support from friends or family to help them cope with job loss. This type of coping is termed symptom-focused by Leanna and Feldman (1988) since the emphasis is on eliminating the symptoms of stress (for example, loneliness, anxiety) rather than on eliminating the source of the stress (for example, job loss).

Malen and Stroh (1998) studied gender differences in coping behaviour among involuntarily unemployed managers. They note job loss among women is increasing rapidly and female managers tend to be unemployed longer than male managers. Their research findings were that men engaged in more job search activities, with the specific coping method of problem solution behaviour (that is behaviours targeted at eliminating the source of stress such as working with search firms) being higher for them than for women. There were no differences between men and women in their use of symptom solution behaviour (that is behaviours targeted at reducing the symptoms of job loss), which is inconsistent with results from blue-collar workers where women have scored higher on this type of behaviour (Leanna & Feldman, 1991). In general, men had higher job search efficacy than did women, suggesting that women may not have confidence in their abilities to seek and obtain a new job.

Finally, Leanna, Feldman and Tan (1998) suggest that for mature job-seekers, in particular, problem-focused coping may be less successful in ending unemployment given the barriers facing mature job-seekers and symptom-focused strategies may be needed even more to ameliorate the difficulties associated with job loss because of the attachment mature workers have to employment.

6.4 Age

The research on age differences in reactions to unemployment suggests that younger employees may be more frequently subject to layoffs but are less negatively affected by them. Leanna and Feldman (1994) suggest that corporations and unions use seniority as a criterion in deciding whom to lay off, concluding that younger workers tend to be more

vulnerable in mass layoffs. At the same time they argue younger employees have less affective attachment to their jobs so that the loss of a job is less traumatic. Moreover younger people may face less job discrimination in finding re-employment so that the long-term consequences of layoffs may be less severe (Leanna & Feldman, 1992). In addition, the young tend to have fewer sunk costs in terms of housing and educational investment in their careers so that geographical relocation and retraining are more economically rational alternatives to their current career paths (Leanna & Feldman, 1994).

There is some question as to whether the relationship between age and the negative consequences of job loss is linear, as suggested by the research of Loomba (1987) and Mooney (1966) or curvilinear. Leanna and Feldman (1988) maintained that mature workers, although they are clearly hurt by job loss, are usually past their years of greatest financial pressure in terms of paying off mortgages and their children’s educations. While layoffs may delay retirement or force some type of bridge employment (Doeringer, 1990), job loss may be ultimately less traumatic for mature workers and their families. In contrast, middle age employees it is argued are at the peak of their high spending years, least able to absorb a financial setback, and least willing to move geographically to find new employment (Schulz, 2001).

This argument is also supported by Kaufman’s (1982) examination of professionals that suggests that their greater status and human capital investment induces a greater level of stress and generally more disagreeable experience of unemployment. Significantly he suggests that for those aged between 51 and 60 years the stress of unemployment was no greater than for those still in employment. Kaufman (1982) suggests far greater concern for professionals should be held for those in their 30s who he believed felt especially burdened.

The most compelling evidence with regard to mature workers is a study that examined the physical and mental effects of involuntary job-loss against a comparison group of continually employed mature workers. The result of this study suggests that involuntary job-loss was associated with greater physical disability and poorer mental health than the comparison group (Gallo, Bradley, Siegel & Kasl, 2000).

The conclusion to be drawn from the research suggests that as workers age, and job tenure grows, the impact of unemployment also grows before declining around the age of 55 years when financial pressures and the desire to work it is argued, declines. The concern with this conclusion is that it pre-supposes that mature workers have saved for their retirement and that that somehow the financial pressures will be lesser even though many mature workers will be forced to live off their savings till receipt of government superannuation at age 65 years. As Bardasi and Jenkins (2002) show the majority of workers will need to work right up to the time they retire to ensure they can save enough for a financially comfortable retirement. Unemployment prior to this point can have serious consequences with poverty in retirement a real threat for lesser skilled workers in particular.