There are currently more than a million people in Norway receiving a pension. For most people, being retired means being outside of the labour market.
Read the article in Norwegian on Arbeidsliv i Norden
Norway’s 2011 pension reform was meant to encourage more people to remain in work for longer. It gave more people the opportunity to combine work and retirement from the age of 62.
And some pensioners do this. In 2024, one in three people in work were “employee aged 67”. However, the proportion falls with as people get older. In that same year, 13 per cent of people aged 74 were still working.
Even though more people in Norway work beyond retirement age than earlier, the country still lags behind its Nordic neighbours.
New AFI report
But working life is not necessarily just a burden for seniors. In an echo of other research, a new study from the Work Research Institute AFI at OsloMet in Norway shows that working into retirement can be a positive thing that improves people’s quality of life.
In the report “The staffing agency Gammel Nok and the mobilisation of hidden resources”, AFI researchers Christin Thea Wathne and Anne Grethe Solberg look at how the transition between work and retirement feels for those who choose to take on jobs for Gammel Nok, and how the agency can contribute to making older workers want to work for longer.
Read the report in Norwegian here
The report was funded by the Centre for Extended Working Life.
The centre hosted a breakfast meeting for the launch of the report and a debate about the challenges.
The agency’s motto: “If you’re Old Enough, you’re good enough”
The staffing agency Gammel Nok was founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Truls Nordby Johansen, aiming to create flexible job opportunities for pensioners. He got the idea after his father lost his job late on in his career.
Gammel Nok is a social enterprise aiming to contribute to a more inclusive labour market. Among its owners are Ferd AS, the Diakonhjemmet Foundation and Credo Gruppen.
The staffing agency’s vision is to increase the quality of life for the individual older worker and to change society’s view of older workers.
The agency has representatives across nine sites in Norway and employs mainly people over the age of 62.
“The report shows many exciting results. We are proud of what we have created,” Nordby Johansen told the seminar.
Contributing without being tied down
After a long working life in education, Tove Kielland now works for Gammel Nok.
“I have plenty of interests, but I still want to contribute,” she says.
The agency has given her many different assignments, from customer assistant for the Airport Express, museum host and gardening work to traffic safety tasks and home help.
“It’s been fun. I like the variation and freedom.”
To her, the flexibility is very important.
“I feel useful and valued. That brings a sense of self-worth and a better quality of life.”
Would like to learn something new at Gammel Nok
Flexibility is key
AFI researchers Christin Thea Wathne and Anne Grethe Solberg have examined how employees experience working at Gammel Nok.
Their results show that flexibility is key for wanting to continue working beyond the retirement age.
Three in four feel the transition to retirement is easier when they can continue to work in a flexible way. More than eight in ten wish to continue working for Gammel Nok.
Motivation for working through Gammel Nok
Many say that community is an important motivation. For some, work can also help fight loneliness.
“I was surprised how clearly positive the findings were. Engagement and satisfaction among the employee was very high,” says Wathne.
Most do not wish to return to their old job, the one they had before retiring. If they were to consider that, it would have to be in a reduced position with a great degree of flexibility.
Challenging working life ideals
The researchers believe the experiences seen at Gammel Nok challenge traditional narratives about work and retirement.
“Flexibility is largely based on the employee’s terms. That goes against the logic of much of today’s working life, where flexibility is often about the needs of the employer,” said Wathne.
The entrepreneur behind Gammel Nok, Truls Nordby Johansen, believes the labour market must open up for more solutions beyond part-time work.
“If we had to hire people to 100 per cent jobs, we would lose at lease 90 per cent of our staff.”
AFI researcher Christin Thea Wathne believes it is time to inject new life into the debates about what constitutes a decent working life. Flexible solutions might be what is needed, just like those offered by Gammel Nok.
“At least we have to dare challenge our ideas of what a good working life is. Many older people don’t want to work full-time or quit work altogether. The labour market has to provide more solutions,” she said during the debate at the breakfast meeting.
