Technology, Identity and Older Workers’ Work-Life Decisions: Insights from the Australian Transport and Logistics Sector

The Australian transport and logistics sector faces a severe labour shortage and the potential skill obsolescence of many of the current workforce as new technologies are implemented. This chapter explores how workplace digital transformation affects the experiences of older workers, their occupational identity, and the likely acceleration of their exit from the workforce. The rapid implementation of digital technologies in the workplace significantly disrupts older workers’ occupational identity, leading to worker alienation, isolation, resistance to change, and intention to exit from the workforce. The experiences of work for these workers have been transformed in ways that are not yet fully explored and understood. Interviews with managers from a broad range of firms in this industry expose negative attitudes and unwillingness to invest in skill upgrades for older workers. Drawing upon an identity perspective, our analysis reveals that occupational identity disruption is a deeper reason to explain older workers’ attitudes towards technology. We highlight that in addition to digital skill training, organisations should strategically buffer the digital challenges for older people by creating a friendly and supportive social environment to assist older workers in adapting to new technologies.