The study won the 2008 Dr. Maria Schaumayer Foundation Award and the 2008 Award of Excellence
of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research. When older workers become unemployed
they face considerable obstacles in the labour market. Often they are depicted as too old to
work but too young to retire. This study is based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork at
the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS). By means of discourse analysis the study shows
the breadth of images available for older unemployed ranging from unemployable scrap iron to
savvy old stagers. Implications of these images in peoples everyday life and in the wider
context of labour market policy are explored.
