Task performance among employees above age 65: The role of cognitive functioning and job demand-control

Abstract

Owing to the aging of Western societies, an increasing number of people over age 65 are now working in bridge employment. Research is needed to understand how job characteristics in bridge employment should be designed to support older employees' productivity, considering potential declines in intra-individual resources. Drawing on lifespan development of resources and job design models, we investigated the interplay of cognitive functioning, job demands, and job control, and their impact on task performance, in a sample of workers in bridge employment. In total, 228 employees from a Dutch temporary employment agency that contracts workers aged 65 years and older participated in this longitudinal study, with a 1-year time lag. Of the panel, 74.1% of the respondents were male, and the mean age was 69.02 years (range 65-80 years). Cognitive functioning, job demands, job control, and task performance were assessed two times with thoroughly validated self-report measures. Good cognitive functioning emerged as an essential intra-individual resource in order to maintain good task performance for employees aged 65 years and older. After including the influence of job demands and job control, positive effects of cognitive functioning on task performance remained significant only in a high-strain job (with high job demands and low job control). This outcome suggests that age-related changes in cognitive functioning among employees above the age of 65 years only affect productivity at work when the job demands are too high relative to the available job control. Implications for retirement research and lifespan perspectives of job design research are discussed.