Professor Matthew Flynn

Professor Matt Flynn of the University of Leicester School of Business is the Director the Centre for Research into the Older Workforce. He has carried out research for the UK government, European Commission, and a variety of funding bodies like UK Research Council and British Academy. He has produced good practice guides for employers on making work attractive to older workers; constructing phased retirement pathways; and making the best use of skills and talents in intergenerational work teams. He has worked with organisations like the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and Trades Union Congress to promote the value of recruiting and developing talent across the life course. His research pages are www.agediversity.org and www.secondmission.org.uk.

• Older migrants and employment
  • NIHR PHR
  • Matt Flynn PI
  • June 2022-November 2022
  • £50,000
• A career pipeline for 50+ Service leavers
  • Healthy Ageing Catalyst
  • Matt Flynn PI
  • September 2021-August 2022
  • £62,500
• Health and Safety Reps during Covid
  • UKRI
  • Professor Sian Moore, PI
  • January 2021-January 2023
  • £100,000
• ASPIRE: Active ageing through Social Partnership and Industrial Relations Expertise
  • European Commission Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Division
  • Dr. Matt Flynn PI
  • January 2017-December 2018
  • €334,000
• Managing a greying social care sector in Malaysia
  • Newton Advanced Fellowship
  • Dr Halima Minhat PI
  • March 2017- February 2019
  • £66,140
• STAY. Supporting Activity for people 50+ in the company. Healthy and motivated employee - satisfied employer
  • European Funds, Knowledge Education Department
  • Prof Iza Warwas PI
  • September 2016-February 2019

• Working Longer Review Group Call for Evidence
  • NHS Employers
  • Dr Matt Flynn and Prof Stephen McNair
• Bilateral (Hong Kong): Age Diversity: Applying the Capabilities Approach to Career Development across the life course
  • ESRC/RGC (Hong Kong)
  • Dr. Matt Flynn and Professor Alfred Chan
• Foresight Future: Foresight: Implications of an Ageing Society for Manufacturing
  • BIS Foresight Future
  • McNair, S., Flynn, M., Myerson, J., Gheerawo, R., Ramster, G.
• ELDer Employees in companies experiencing Restructuring: Stress and well-being
  • ADAPT
  • European Union Budget Heading 04.04.01.03
• The Experience of Older Workers in Japan and the UK: a comparative study
  • Dr. Matt Flynn, Middlesex University and Professor Atsuhiro Yamada
  • British Council
• Age Diversity in the Workplace: a comparative perspective
  • ESRC
• Equal Sussex Evaluation (Action 3)- 50+ Workers Beneficiary Group
  • Professor Stephen McNair and Dr. Matt Flynn
  • Brighton and Hove Council and EQUAL
• Managing an Older Workforce- a qualitative study into employers’ policies and practices
  • Professor Stephen McNair and Dr. Matt Flynn
  • Department for Work and Pensions
• Knowledge Management in the Automotive Industry
  • European Social Fund, Article 6
• The Effects of Gender and Qualifications on Older People’s Employability
  • Professor Stephen McNair, Lynda Owen-Hussey and Dr. Matt Flynn
  • Higher Education European Social Fund
• The Older Workforce in the South East
  • Professor Stephen McNair, Dr. Matt Flynn, and Lynda Owen-Hussey,
  • South East of England Development Agency
• The Age Dimension of Employment Practices
  • Professor Stephen McNair and Dr. Matt Flynn, University of Surrey
  • Department for Trade and Industry

Health and Safety Reps in COVID-19—Representation Unleashed?

Editorial: Ageing and migration status: Intersectional forms of discrimination and exclusion

The role of union health and safety representatives during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A case study of the UK food processing, distribution, and retail sectors

The Next Mission: Inequality and Service-to-Civilian Career Transition Outcomes among 50+ Military Leavers

Older Migrants and Overcoming Employment Barriers: Does Community Activism Provide the Answer?

Trade Union Responses to Ageing Workplaces: Lessons from the UK

Age, work and pensions in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong: An institutional perspective

Job Satisfaction, Retirement Attitude and Intended Retirement Age: A Conditional Process Analysis across Workers’ Level of Household Income

Workplace accommodation for older teachers in Japan and Germany: The role of the institutional context in supporting late career options for teachers with ill health

Self-Reported Health Status of Older Adults in Malaysia and Singapore: Evidence from the 2007 Global Ageing Survey

The management of an ageing workforce: organisational policies in Germany and Britain

Government as Institutional Entrepreneur: Extending Working Life in the UK and Japan

National institutions and employers’ age management practices in Britain and Germany: ‘Path dependence’ and option exploration

Current PhDs

Yang Gu, Factors Affecting Employees’ Work-Life Balance: Evidence from Chinese Multinational Corporations

Stephanie Moffatt, Are we planning for a purpose? How planning for a sense of purpose in retirement differs between genders and socio-economic groups, and can sense of purpose be incorporated into retirement planning support?

Completed PhDs

• Heike Schroder, Managing older teachers: School strategies in the UK and Germany, Completed May 2011

• Martin Sposato, Paternalistic leadership in China, Completion November 2015
• Xueying Wang, Older workers in China: a Life Course perspective, Completion June 2020

• Catherine Michaux,Strategic Transnational Cross-Cultural Management in Multinational Corporations:Analysis of Senior Executives’ Strategic Cross-Cultural Management Competencies, Completion September 2020
• Yaojia Li, 2012-2021, Social media in China, Completion September 2021
• Nailah Hassan Gadi 2013-2021, Women in Employment: A Structuration Perspective, Completion October 2021

Key Themes

• Age diversity in the workplace: Advocating for inclusive approaches across career stages.

• Phased retirement pathways: Researching how retirement transitions can be structured effectively for older workers.

• Intergenerational teams: Exploring how organisations can best utilise the skills of mixed-age teams.

• Employer guidance: Producing good-practice guides for making work attractive to older employees.

Selected Publications & Outputs

• Older migrants and employment barriers, with emphasis on community activism as a possible lever for inclusion.

• Delayed retirement: Contributions to comparative studies on retirement approaches across countries (e.g., UK, Germany, Hong Kong).

• Extending working lives: Co-editing and contributing to 'Managing the Ageing Workforce in the East and the West'.

• A substantial body of academic papers and government or policy reports spanning topics such as age discrimination in employment, employer responses to an ageing workforce, and mid-to-late life work transitions.

Qualifications

1999-2005                          PhD Trade Union Management, Cranfield University

1991-1992                          MSc Public Policy and Public Administration, London School of Economics

1987-1991                          BA Politics and Economics, Brandeis University