The overarching objective of my research is to examine the combined effects of aging and restructuring as they relate to boomer professionals’ identity and their career outcomes. Four points defined the research question as follows:
1. What are the implications of the combined effects of economic restructuring and aging on boomer workers and how do these effects influence worker behavior?
2. What are the associated structural effects that affect boomer workers and to what extent are these forces perceived as constraining? Similarly, what effects originate with
individual agency and how does agency influence workplace restructuring and perceptions of age in the workplace?
3. To the extent that structure is found to affect worker identity and outcomes, what are the processes involved, and what or the origins of this structure? How does agency take shape and what processes guide the interplay of structure and agency?
4. How do these identity effects compare and contrast across different types of work situations frequently encountered by older workers, particularly as evidenced by
meanings that workers associate with their individual outcomes? Do self-meanings align with meanings attached to career meanings, and if not, what are the ramifications? This study consisted of a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 33 participants. A requirement for interviews with considerable depth, an ability to tailor the inquiry to
individual narratives, and an emphasis on process suggested qualitative methods (Berg 1998; Weiss 1994). Snow (1999: 98) notes, “one of the traditional contributions of
qualitative/ethnographic research to social psychology has been its capacity to access and illuminate basic social processes.”
Many studies have applied quantitative methods to various aspects of work, aging, and identity theory (e.g., Burke and Reitzes 1981; Jaret et al. 2005; Logan et al. 1992; Reitzes and Mutran 1994, 2002, 2004, 2006; Simon 1997; Wheaton 1990) and measurement techniques have been developed (Burke and Tully 1977; Mutran and George 1982; Rosenberg 1979; Stryker and Burke 2000). However, a rich qualitative literature also exists on the effects of restructuring (e.g., Dudley 1994; Leventman 1989; Milkman 1997; Newman 1988; Perrucci et al. 1988; Smith 2001) and social psychology (Ebaugh 1988; Kaufman 2003; Lois 1999; Milkie 1999; Ponticelli 1999; Tsushima and Burke 1999). These examples suggest that both methods are effective in different situations; however, the stated research objectives and my desire to interpret meanings associated with workers’ experiences led to the selection of qualitative methods for this
particular research. Qualitative methods facilitated the proposal of relevant theoretical assertions that can be tested with future research. Opportunities for further research are identified later that are well-suited to quantitative, as well as qualitative methods (Abbott 2003; Baronov 2004; Creswell 2003; McKeown 2004).
Tsushima and Burke (1999) use qualitative in-depth interviews to determine meanings, investigate individual agency, and to refine identity theory. Vallas (1999) uses qualitative in- depth interviews to assess situational worker behavior in a blue-collar environment. These articles establish a precedent for applying qualitative methods to key aspects of this research objective and these studies contribute to refining these methods.
This research design was based on developing an understanding of boomer professionals in the era of restructuring by examining the meanings that they attach to themselves and their work.
My plan stemmed from a desire to understand how professionals from the baby boom generation are negotiating dramatic changes in work coupled with an identity theory framework that was established as particularly useful for this inquiry.
Identity theory suggests that the structure that emerges at higher levels, such as institutional structure, is integrated into individual systems of meanings, leading to shared meanings that reflect the higher order structure. That is, macro-level phenomena are interpreted in the meanings that individuals attach to objects, their environment, themselves, and their behavior in micro-level social interactions. For example, I expected downsizing to be reflected in individual meanings held by workers, such as a sense of reduced job security, distaste for
company downsizing, or mistrust of foreign competition for jobs.
Situational interaction also creates social structure that originates with individuals, as opposed to the organizations and institutions cited thus far in this example. For example, occupations have been redefined to involve more networking across company lines in lieu of a previous reliance on internal labor markets for job mobility. Forums have been created to facilitate this new form of networking. Web-sites have been developed that help workers to network. Career trajectories begin to depend on external networking. In short, social structure is constructed at the micro-level that both integrates with and adds to macro- and meso-level structure that is reflected in individual meanings. Interpreting individual systems of meanings provided a lens to examine the boundaries that are established by all levels of social structure. By understanding meanings associated with economic restructuring and aging, I gained insight into the effects of all forms of social structure related to these phenomena.
A second identity theory tenet that informed this research design is that individual behavior in the workplace is expected to be determined by individual self-meanings associated
with work, that is, by individual role identity as a worker. This is also a basic symbolic- interactionist perspective (Blumer 1969; LaRossa and Reitzes 1993) that applies to identity theory (Stryker 1980; Stryker and Burke 2000). Continuing the downsizing example, identity changes resulting from downsizing, as a social phenomenon, may be exhibited in behavior such as fear of job loss, increased stress, or reduced self-efficacy. More intense identity and
behavioral changes may occur if the individual themselves is downsized. Identity theory states that self-meanings and behavioral meanings are directly related.
Combining these two tenets of identity theory suggests that social structure associated with economic restructuring and aging is reflected in individual meanings attached to economic restructuring and aging, that meanings attached to economic restructuring and aging influences self-meanings, and self-meanings are directly related to behavioral meanings (see Figure 1.1). Using identity theory as a framework for my research design, data was collected from interviews with boomer professionals that involved four foci as follows:
1. Meanings attached to economic and workplace restructuring 2. Meanings attached to aging in the workplace
3. Self-meanings as a worker (role identity)
4. Meanings associated with career outcomes in the restructured workplace
These data allowed the investigation of the effects of economic restructuring on boomer professionals while narrowing the focus of the investigation based on identity theory. The data were structured in the sense that the examined information was linked in a theoretical process advanced by identity theory.
My research design had two additional advantages beyond being structured and focused (George and Bennett 2005). First, the interviews provided general data on the aspects of
economic restructuring and aging, supplying primary data used to develop new theory and extend existing theory using grounded theory methods. Second, the data were collected in a way that facilitated comparison and contrast between meanings held by individuals in different career outcomes. This research design provided a great deal of flexibility while maintaining a focused approach to data collection.
Sample
Because this research is focused on the effects of restructuring, the types of career situations investigated were limited to those associated with large corporations. The outcomes involved situations in which workers were corporate employees, sought to become corporate employees, or involved former corporate employees. For example, workers who had left a company and now contract their services back to that company were included. Workers who had rejected the corporate world for some other alternative following a corporate career, were also included. Overall, the scope of my research was limited to situations and workers with a corporate context.
Much of workplace transformation has centered on shifts in the way work is performed in large organizations (Edwards 1979). The largest potential for cost-cutting exists in bigger
organizations (Budros 1997). Corporations are pressured by stockholders, institutional investors, and the perceptions of Wall Street to improve profitability and are faster to implement changes as a result. Large corporations, in particular have led the way in implementing workplace restructuring (Gittleman, et al. 1998). Smaller, publicly-held firms, privately owned companies, and public-sector organizations are all being affected by economic restructuring, but have been slower to change. Smaller firms, such as partnerships and sole-proprietorships, especially those that are in the corporate supply chain, experience restructuring impacts, but on a much smaller
scale than large companies. Start-ups and corporations with smaller market capitalization are generally more focused on growth than profitability and consequently have priorities other than restructuring (Cornfield et al. 2001).
Within the corporation, both blue-collar and white-collar workers have experienced many changes during the era of restructuring. The impacts on these two types of worker are quite different, thus their responses can be expected to be very dissimilar. For example, changes in the implied employment contract have different meanings for the unionized wage-worker whose job security hinges on seniority compared to the salaried worker who is employed at will. The early years of restructuring had a disproportionate effect on blue-collar workers as manufacturing was decimated in the U.S. and large numbers of jobs were moved off-shore (Bluestone and Harrison 1982). Recently, however, in part because of the decline of manufacturing and partly because of shifting corporate focus; white-collar workers have been more affected by restructuring. Also, in today’s labor market, white-collar workers comprise a much larger proportion of the workforce than blue-collar workers. In 2000, 63 percent of boomer occupations were classified as white- collar, while 37 percent were blue-collar and lower-skilled services. Of the white-collar workers, 73 percent (46 percent of all occupations) fit my definition of professionals (GAO 2001).4
The percentage increase in boomer-aged workers is growing much faster in white-collar jobs compared to blue-collar jobs. The occupations with the highest growth among workers 55 years of age and older, between 2000 and 2008 (projected), are managerial and professional. The lowest growth is in manufacturing related occupations and technical occupations. Combined, the professional and managerial occupational categories increased from approximately 5.8 million workers to 9.0 million during that time. These data indicate the beginning of the effects of
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boomers as higher educated workers involved in higher status, particularly professional, occupations. 29 percent of boomers have a college degree, compared to 21 percent for the “mature generation,” the older cohort classification just before the boomers. 57 percent of boomers have some college compared to 42 percent of matures (Toossi 2002). The boomer as older worker phenomenon is largely about college educated professionals.
For these reasons, this research focused on professional and managerial workers
employed in a corporate context. Because managerial workers are largely undifferentiated from professional workers in today’s workplace, a process that Leicht and Fennell (2001) characterize as professionalization, the types of workers studied are simply referred to as professionals.
Professionals are a particularly interesting group to study in assessing the relationship between restructuring and worker identity. They contrast with blue-collar, lower-skilled service workers, and administrative and technical support workers in three ways. First, they are likely to have accumulated more human capital, in the form of education and occupational status and obtained more social capital, in the form of networks and connections with other workers. Second, they are likely to have achieved higher levels of income and wealth. Third, they are likely to have attained a level of success in the workplace that may influence their current identity via lingering identities (Kaufman 1982; Perrucci and Wysong 1999; Reitzes and Mutran 2006). These factors suggest that professionals may be more likely to exhibit individual agency when faced with change or adversity. It is possible that they are more likely to have the means and self-concept necessary to exert agency in coping with the effects of restructuring.
Consequently, focusing on professionals also makes sense for exploring the structural and agentive aspects of how workers are responding to restructuring.5
Boomer professionals working in a corporate context are affected by five predominant tactics associated with restructuring. These are employment externalization, reengineering, mergers and acquisitions and consolidation, deskilling, and downsizing. To varying degrees, each of these tactics either eliminates or devalues jobs.6 Devalued jobs may be downgraded in terms of compensation (pay and benefits), hours worked (shifting from full-time to part-time or requiring fewer part-time hours), or job quality (e.g., less desirable work conditions or work schedule). Devalued jobs are often downgraded in multiple aspects.
Workers whose jobs are eliminated or devalued respond differently from one another. Many try to “stay the course,” holding onto to traditionally defined work roles by gaining or seeking reemployment in traditional career-oriented occupations. Others take more a more autonomous direction, leveraging their skills as an independent contractor or becoming
entrepreneurs of their own businesses. Some embrace change by training for a new occupation or direction in their career. Still others gravitate to what is available, accepting employment that is most easily accessible. I used these career outcomes as the key criteria in defining categories of work arrangements to investigate, knowing that the categories may change based on my findings. The traditionally employed are separated from those who are seeking to return to traditional employment (i.e., “in transition”). Also, autonomous workers are separated into those who have taken an independent path as self-employed or contracting and those who are redefining their
temporally to exempt employees first, then to non-exempt, then to hourly workers. Therefore, some findings from research involving professionals may extrapolate to future trends for workers in general. It is unlikely that the reverse would be true, providing additional justification for studying professionals (Leicht and Fennell 1997).
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All jobs are not devalued due to restructuring tactics. For example, demand has increased for legal and financial merger and acquisition experts as a result of increased mergers and acquisitions in the restructuring era. The creation of occupations and jobs in high-skilled services is far outweighed by unemployment and underemployment across
skill-set with a goal of reinventing themselves as an employee. The five categories of worker sampled are as follows:7
1. Traditionals - Workers who have reestablished themselves, or that remain on, a traditional career trajectory.
2. Transitionals - Workers in-transition from a traditional career trajectory who are seeking a similar position. These are workers who are in the job-search process. They are
generally unemployed, but may also have taken temporary employment as a short-term solution. This category is distinguished by workers who expect to reestablish themselves in a job at a similar level to the job from which they were downsized.
3. Independents - Workers who are self-employed or contracting following a traditional career. Again, these are workers who expect to reestablish their career status. However, they are distinguished by either of two characteristics. First, they may be willing to leverage capital gained from their previous employment to “get a new start.” The capital involved may be savings, business contacts and connections, or specific skills. Second, they may wish to escape direct corporate employment.
4. Reinventors – Workers involved in reinventing their career (e.g., training for a new occupation). These workers also expect to reestablish their perceived career status. However, they are distinguished by a willingness to retrain. They may aspire to a job that is a better fit for them at this point in their life course and are not necessarily seeking
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The U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey uses four categories of alternative arrangements to identify contingent workers: (1) independent contractors (including consultants and free-lance workers); (2) on-call workers, (3) temporary help agency workers, and (4) workers provided by contract firms (Cohany 1996). All other workers are considered to be traditional. In an analysis of younger workers in nonstandard work arrangements, Rothstein (1996) uses the following categories: (1) full-time regular employee, (2) part-time regular employee, (3) self-
compensation commensurate with their previous career. They may remain employed as they learn new skills or credentials.
5. Contingents - Workers engaged in contingent employment following a traditional career. These workers are in positions that are devalued in comparison to their previous job. They may not have fully accepted this outcome, but they are actively engaged in their lower-level work and do not have short-term expectations for an improved position. Because analysis for this research, discussed below, applied grounded theory methods the sample size was not completely pre-determined. From a practical standpoint, less than 30
interviews were likely to provide insufficient data and more than 40 interviews were likely to create an unwieldy analysis. However, the notion of theoretical sampling asserted by Strauss and Corbin (1998: 206) suggests that the sample size in grounded theory be dictated, at least in part, by how the coding phases progress.8 During open-coding, they state “the aim of data
gathering…is to keep the collection process open to all possibilities. This was achieved through sample diversity by including a variety of work situations and worker demographics. This approach to sampling resulted in a rich set of variables that emerged from this coding phase.
Once the variables that best related to the research objectives were identified, the goal of the sample became to add depth to the variables through data that explained the variation of concepts and the relations between concepts, while better articulating the variables. These are the objectives of sampling during axial coding, which may necessitate additional data collection. The theoretical story then emerges during selective coding, at which time; additional sampling may be required to flesh out the emerging theory. In theoretical sampling, no additional sampling is
required when all variables are saturated. According to Strauss and Corbin (1998: 212), a variable is saturated as follows:
(a) no new or relevant data seem to emerge regarding a [variable]
(b) the [variable] is well developed in terms of its properties and dimensions demonstrating variation
(c) the relationships among [variables] are well established and validated.
The need for additional sampling once data collection and analysis is in progress depends on how well “the initial decisions fit the reality of the data” (Strauss and Corbin 1998: 204). After analyzing approximately 26 interviews, it became apparent that the variables were well
developed, however; additional interviews continued to provide supporting data for the variables involved. I concluded that the variables in my analysis were fully saturated after 33 interviews.
Nonprobability sampling was used to collect data from these 33 in-depth interviews conducted with boomer professionals who have had a long (over ten years) tenure working in a corporate environment. The sample consisted of participants from five different groups, with each group being made up of participants whose career situations were categorized as being similar based on rationale described above. Participants were not all currently working, but had been actively employed within the past five years. All respondents were born between 1946 and 1964 (i.e., boomers who are at least 45 years old) and have worked in a professional capacity for a significant portion of their career. Although technically the baby-boom generation ends with those born in 1964, those who could have been 44 years old at the time of the interviews, I chose