The Implication of Physically Demanding and Hazardous Work on Retirement Timing

Johanna Stengård; Marianna Virtanen; Constanze Leineweber; Hugo Westerlund; Hui-Xin Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph19138123

The Implication of Physically Demanding and Hazardous Work on Retirement Timing

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 1;19(13):8123. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19138123.

Authors

Johanna Stengård¹, Marianna Virtanen^{2

3}, Constanze Leineweber¹, Hugo Westerlund¹, Hui-Xin Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Stress Research Institute, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, 11419 Stockholm, Sweden.
² School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, 80101 Joensuu, Finland.
³ Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

The need to retain individuals longer in the workforce is acknowledged in many high-income countries. The present study therefore aimed to examine the importance of physically demanding work tasks (PDWT) and physically hazardous work environment (PHWE) in relation to retirement timing among pensionable workers (≥61 years). A particular question was whether PDWT and PHWE increased in importance with age. Six waves (2008-2018) of the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) were used (n = 5201; 56% women and 44% men; mean age at first survey was 61.0 (SD 2.0) years). Discrete time-event history analysis, stratified by socioeconomic position and gender, showed that among blue-collar workers, PDWT and PHWE were associated with an increased likelihood of retiring within the next two years. With increasing age, high-level PHWE was associated with higher probability of retiring among blue-collar men, whereas heavy PDWT was associated with lower probability of retiring among blue-collar women. Among white-collar workers, having at least some PDWT compared to no PDWT was associated with a lower likelihood of retiring within the next two years. With increasing age, exposure to PHWE was associated with higher probability of retiring among white-collar women. These results suggest that to delay retirements, organizations could offer their older employees, especially blue-collar workers and the oldest white-collar women, alternatives to PDWT and PHWE.

Keywords: actual retirement; age interactions; physical job demands; physically demanding work tasks; physically hazardous work environment; retirement timing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Occupations
Retirement*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Sweden
Workplace*

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE) under Grant 2019-01120. Data collection was supported by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE) through the Stockholm Stress Center under Grant 2009-1758; the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare under Grant 2005-0734; and the Swedish Research Council (VR) under Grant 2009-06192, 2013-01645, 2015-06013, and 2017-00624. The funding sources had no role in the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit it for publication.