The effects of under‐skilling on need for recovery, losing employment and retirement intentions among older office workers: A prospective cohort study

• Author: Nicole W.H. JANSEN,Andries de GRIP,Fleur G. GOMMANS,Dave STYNEN,IJmert KANT
• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12029

International Labour Review, Vol. 156 (2017), No. 3–4

Copyright © The authors 2017

Journal compilation © International Labour Organization 2017

The effects of under-skilling on need

for recovery, losing employment

and retirement intentions among older

ofce workers: A prospective cohort study

Fleur G. GOMMANS,* Nicole W.H. JANSEN,* Dave STYNEN,*

IJmert KANT* and Andries de GRIP**

Abstract. Based on a sample of older workers from the Maastricht Cohort Study,

the authors investigate the prevalence and dynamics of self-reported under-skill-

ing and its effects on workers’ need for recovery, their risk of losing employment

and their retirement intentions over a two-year period. They nd that being under-

skilled is associated both with higher levels of need for recovery over time and

with the risk of losing employment, but not with early retirement intentions. To

achieve sustainable employment, they argue, the course of under-skilling should

be monitored throughout workers’ careers, enabling timely interventions to avoid

its negative consequences.

In many industrialized countries the population is “greying” (Rechel et al.,

2013), resulting in a steadily ageing workforce as well as increasing difcul-

ties in sustaining current pension systems (van Soest and Vonkova, 2014). Ac-

cordingly, many countries are pursuing policies aimed at increasing the labour

force participation of older workers, by abolishing early retirement schemes

and postponing the mandatory retirement age (de Grip, Fouarge and Monti-

zaan, 2013).

A multitude of factors might affect the labour force participation of em-

ployees, however, including the extent to which their skills match the skills

demanded in the job (Hidding et al., 2004).1 The ILO (2014) has estimated

* CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, emails:

eur.gommans@maastrichtuniversity.nl; nicole.jansen@maastrichtuniversity.nl (corresponding

author); dave.stynen@maastrichtuniversity.nl; and ij.kant@maastrichtuniversity.nl. ** Research

Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University, email: a.degrip@

maastrichtuniversity.nl.

Responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles rests solely with their authors, and

publication does not constitute an endorsement by the ILO.

1 In the literature, the terms “skills” and “competencies” are often used interchangeably.

In the present study, the term “skills” will be used.

International Labour Review526

that 30 to 50 per cent of all European employees experience some type of

skill mismatch in their job. As the risk of being under-skilled is assumed to

be especially high among older workers (Cedefop, 2010), the present study

investigates the effects of under-skilling among a sample of older employees.

Possible underlying causes of under-skilling might include changes in the work-

ers themselves, such as ageing and depreciation of skills, as well as changes in

the work environment, such as new job requirements (van Loo, de Grip and de

Steur, 2001). Also, a reduced willingness to train or reduced access to training

might result in a lack of the skills that are required to perform adequately on

the job (see Ng and Feldman, 2012; Erdogan et al., 2011). Moreover, under-

skilling might be the result of an interaction of multiple contextual factors

involving skill supply, skill demand and personal characteristics (European

Commission, 2012) – and this process might be dynamic over time.

This study aims to contribute to the literature by investigating the preva-

lence and possible consequences of under-skilling among older workers, with

a focus on their need for recovery (NFR) at the end of the working day, the

risk of losing their job and their intention to retire at an early age. Although

skill mismatches are known to be negatively associated with different labour

outcomes, such as job satisfaction (see Allen and van der Velden, 2001), the

effect of skill mismatches on health outcomes has yet to be investigated.

In this article, we will investigate whether under-skilling is related to

workers’ NFR at the end of a working day (van Veldhoven and Meijman,

1994). As under-skilled employees might lack the skills necessary to perform

their current job to acceptable standards, they may face a higher depletion

of mental and physical resources at the end of the working day which may,

in turn, result in higher levels of NFR. NFR reects the short-term effects of

a working day and employees with elevated levels of NFR are often charac-

terized by feelings of overload, social withdrawal and reduced performance

(van Veldhoven, 2008). Moreover, as under-skilled employees might not or no

longer be able to adapt to changing conditions or technological changes in the

job, they might be at risk of losing their job (Klimplová, 2012). In this respect,

it is also possible that under-skilling is associated with the risk of job loss via

the indirect pathway of NFR, as elevated NFR has been found to be associ-

ated with sickness absence (de Croon, Sluiter and Frings-Dresen, 200 3), occu-

pational mobility (De Raeve et al., 2009) and occupational disability (Otten

et al., 2012). NFR has also been found to be associated with early retirement

(Oude Hengel et al., 2012), suggesting that under-skilled employees might

have stronger intentions to retire at an early age. However, direct associations

between under-skilling and retirement intentions have not been investigated

among older workers to date.

As most jobs require multiple types of skills, under-skilling might arise

in regard to particular skills. Indeed, Perry, Wiederhold and Ackermann-Piek

(2014) conclude that looking at only one skill domain does not provide a com-

plete picture of skill mismatch. Moreover, it remains unknown whether associ-

ations between under-skilling and various outcomes differ across specic types