Staying Relevant or Becoming Invisible? Human Legitimacy in Extended Working Lives

Abstract

Demographic ageing, artificial intelligence and increasingly fragmented careers are reshaping not only the duration of working lives but also how individuals are recognised as organisational actors. This conceptual theory-building paper introduces human legitimacy at work, defined as the degree to which an individual is regarded as a meaningful, capable and future-relevant organisational actor. Drawing on legitimacy and recognition theory, socioemotional selectivity theory, psychological safety, individual ambidexterity, professional identity and meaningful work, the framework proposes that human legitimacy emerges through the alignment of adaptive capacity, social recognition and identity continuity. It further develops a typology of legitimacy misalignment comprising the Invisible Expert, the Over-Signalled Contributor and the Identity-Disrupted Actor. The paper argues that extended working lives should be understood not only as a challenge of employability or retention, but also of sustained recognition and future relevance. It consequently introduces legitimacy stewardship as a leadership responsibility for aligning capability renewal, recognition systems and identity support in contexts of demographic and technological change.