Matthias Knuth

Peer Review: ‘PES and Older Workers’

Presentation at the Headquarters of the German Federal Employment Agency,

Nuremberg, May 10, 2012

Employment Rates, EU 27, 2001-2010

2

6500% 7000% 7500% 8000% 8500%2000%

2500%

3000%

3500%

4000%

4500%

5000%

5500%

6000%

20012002

20032004200520062007

20082009

2010

2001200220032004

20052006

2007

200820092010

middle age employment rates (25-54 years)

olde

r em

ploy

men

t rat

es (5

5-64

yea

rs) Men

Women

Employment Rates 55-64

32000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

BelgienDänemarkSpanienFrankreichItalienNiederlandeÖsterreichSchwedenVerein. Kgr.NorwegenSchweizDeutschland

Proz

ent

Schweden

Norwegen Schweiz

Dänemark

Verein. Kgr.

Niederlande

Quelle: Eurostat

Female Employment Rates 2001 / 2008 / 2010

46000% 6500% 7000% 7500% 8000%

0%

500%

1000%

1500%

2000%

2500%

3000%

3500%

4000%

4500%

5000%

5500%

6000%

BE

DE

EE

FR LTNL

ATPL

UK

2001 2008 2010

middle age employment rates (25-54 years)

olde

r em

ploy

men

t rat

es (5

5-64

year

s)

MT outside

Male Employment Rates 2001 / 2008 / 2010

5

7000% 7500% 8000% 8500% 9000% 9500%3000%

3500%

4000%

4500%

5000%

5500%

6000%

6500%

7000%

BE

DE

EE

FR

LT

HU

MT NL

ATPL

UK

2001 2008 2010

middle age employment rates (25-54 years)

olde

r em

ploy

men

t rat

es (5

5-64

yea

rs)

Institutional factors relevant to older workers' probabilities of taking up employment• (stronger) legal employment protection setting in at

a specific age• seniority wage differentials (if tied to age)• age-specific exemption from job search / from

definition of being unemployed• age-specific extension of UB eligibility• early retirement / disability schemes• low statutory retirement age notion of 'old' starts

early• signalling effect of statutory pension age thresholdsÞ UK has recently abolished the Default Retirement Age 6

Typical challenges

• age stereotypes on both sides, employers and jobseekers

• scepticism even among PES staff• lack of occupational and geographical mobility• lack of qualifications, outdated qualifications, or

qualifications not recognized (migrants)• 'life-long learning' not really embraced, neither by

workers nor by employers

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Services for Employers• employer-oriented services not specialised by age groups• primary concern for jobseekers, not employed workers• special services and provisions in cases of restructuring in

many countries• age-specific rules for restructuring only in Belgium

• wage cost subsidies largely used and promoted, also for older workers

• compensation offered for training costs or days of sickness (in some countries)

• counselling services for employers in their role as users of labour are rare and not age-specific• Austria: 'flexibility counselling'• Germany: pilot models for counselling SME's

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Preventive Measures and Services / Awareness Raising

• few preventive measures for older employees• 'fast track' services and priority activation for older

jobseekers in some countries• campaigns and action plans aim at raising public

and employers' awareness• networking with the business community• liaising with civil society organisations representing

senior citizens

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Services and Measures for Unemployed Older Workers

• few age-specificities in services concern only timing, priority or intensity:• initial interview or Individual Action Plan earlier for older jobseekers

• tendency towards abolishing age specific measures or programmes (Germany, UK)• exemption Netherlands: 55-plus networking ( 'senior job club')

• division of frontline services by age and 'target group approaches' rejected by most participating countries• Poland just now training frontline workers and coaches – how will they

be deployed?• wage supplements compensating for taking up a lower-paid

job (France,Belgium; recently abandoned in Germany)• direct job creation ('public works')

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Monitoring and Evaluation• no age-specific monitoring or evaluation

programmes• in general, proper monitoring systems and

independent evaluation of net outcomes of ALMP’s still in need of development in many countries

• measures highlighted as successful (based on practical experience or evaluation):• combinations of work practice and training• hiring subsidies• networking groups / group counselling / job search coaching

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Practical conclusions• PES staff information, training and experience

sharing: giving employment assistance for older workers credibility

• supporting older jobseekers' self-confidence• identifying the type of enterprise more likely to hire

older jobseekers • perhaps not the 'age-friendly' ones already employing a

high proportion of older workers• training investment also for 'older' workers – firm-

specificity perhaps less of a problem where older workers concerned

• counselling employers with regard to more sustainable HR practices: a suitable role for the PES?

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Outlook• What works for older jobseekers will probably also

work for younger ones.• Some problems may cumulate with age:

impairments of health, outdated qualifications• Main problem not (calendrical, biological) age as

such but subjective life-course positioning (self-perception and perception by others).

• Age stereotypes will probably remain – but calendrical age associated with notion of being 'old' will shift upwards with the institutional framework for retirement.

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