Employability of an Ageing Workforce

1. Employability of an Ageing Workforce Dr. Gerlinde Ziniel European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions

2. Aims and objectives • Document current measures and initiatives in 200 organisations in the EU 27 to improve the employment situation of older workers • Identify factors influencing the success and sustainability of initiatives • Review lessons and formulate guidelines for good practice in age management

3. Products http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/

4. What is good practice? Good practice in age management is defined as those measures • that combat age barriers and/or promote age diversity. • These measures may entail specific initiatives aimed at particular dimensions of age management. • They may also include more general employment or human resources policies that help to create an environment in which individual employees are able to achieve their potential without being disadvantaged by their age.

5. Dimensions of age management practice • Job recruitment • Learning, training and lifelong learning • Career development • flexible working time practices • Health protection and promotion, and workplace design • Redeployment • Employment exit and the transition to retirement • Comprehensive approaches

6. Case study examples

7. Germany, Continentale – Insurance • About 3,000 office-based employees work for Continentale and approximately 50% of these are women. • About 21% of the staff is aged over 50 years. The various company departments, however, present quite different age structures. • Longevity risk • Change of national retirement age and early exits. • Measures: active@work project (Alternative work arrangements, mixed teams, managing stuff turnover, etc).

8. Netherlands, Siemens – Electrical • Company employs a total of 460,800 people worldwide, including 124,000 women, who represent about 27% of its global workforce. • Compass process applies to all staff members of Siemens AG Germany aged over 40 years – promotion for mixed teams. • Siemens Nederland is the Dutch branch of a large German electronics company. • 3,448 employees with the following profile: 35% are aged over 50 years; 17% are women; 51% are educated to lower secondary vocational education or senior secondary vocational education levels. • Time-Optimised processes (TOP) project

9. Czech Republic, Škoda Auto - Motor • Škoda Auto a.s. is one of the biggest employers in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful developing Czech companies. Since 1994, Škoda Auto has been part of the German Volkswagen group (VW AG). • 23,000 workers, of whom about 9,000 work in skilled jobs • Pilot study which aims to revitalise middle management using workers aged 50 years and over. It is also involved in developing a policy for human resources (HR) staff who are preparing for the increasingly pertinent issue of an ageing workforce. • Human resources management (HRM) encompasses three main areas: HR development, efficient personnel management, and personnel services, including wages, social services and catering • Cooperation with retired workers, mixed aged teams, new jobs for older workers. • Third Career project – co-financed by ESF and Czech government.

10. Benefits of age management measures • Raise of the workforce’s overall skills level and capacity for innovation. • With older employees on the payroll, younger staff see greater potential for career. development: their motivation increases as a result, as does their respect for the performance of their older colleagues. • Improvements in the quality of an organisation’s products and services. • In many organisations, the involvement of older employers ensures the maintaining of skills levels and the potential for professional development and internal transfer.

11. Success factors for age management in organisations • Age awareness • Supportive national policy framework • Management commitment and competence • Careful planning and implementation • Cooperation of all parties concerned – age awareness • Evaluation, assessment of costs and benefits

12. Conclusions • Need for a comprehensive and coordinated set of policies – acknowledged but only partially implemented • Integrated approaches are possible and worthwhile – need to extend awareness and commitment • Policies must consider the whole of working life – working, learning and caring over the life course – but how to operationalise • Rethinking of pensions - but also disability and rehabilitation schemes • The new Member States pose a special challenge for giving priority and particular attention to older workers

13. THANK YOU!