TASK DEMANDS DURING THE PROFESSIONAL BIOG RAPHY

Professional work includes learning, because of the development of pro ducts, machines, equipments, die organizational structures, and many p ersonal motives. Learning at work depends on the task demands. The wor k demands during the professional biography of 140 persons (between 50 and 70 years old) were described using a retrospective analysis. In a ddition, expectations regarding work contents during the final phase o f working life, operationalized by the age between 60 and 65 years, we re examined. The results show successful reactions to slightly increas ing work demands during the professional biography, and a significant relationship between the level of work demands and the expectations re garding work contents for the final stages of working life. This is in terpreted as suggesting that learning by doing work is able to develop professional abilities in such a way that the level of competence wil l be kept up to the age of 65 years.