Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
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150<br />
<strong>Working</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>ageing</strong><br />
Guidance <strong>and</strong> counselling for mature learners<br />
8.3. National <strong>and</strong> organisational needs<br />
Nations continuously stress the need for a skilled workforce, which may or<br />
may not exist, although labour force participation will fall. This perceived need<br />
influences prioritisation in migration policies for people with specific skills <strong>and</strong><br />
qualifications, a strategy frequently employed prior to considerations of the<br />
older workforce. However, migration is not sufficient to bolster populations or<br />
skills requirements. When attention turns to the <strong>ageing</strong> worker, there are many<br />
challenges to be identified <strong>and</strong> addressed at national, organisational <strong>and</strong><br />
individual levels. Dawe (2009, p. 7) reporting on the situation of older workers<br />
in Australia, highlighted the challenges for older workers to reenter the<br />
workforce. Especially if this is accompanied by lower literacy <strong>and</strong> numeracy<br />
skills, lack of work experience, in lower socioeconomic, rural or remote areas,<br />
these groups require intensive support.<br />
This antipodean observation also applies to the European context where<br />
most countries have 65 years as the official retirement age (Simonazzi, 2009,<br />
p. 24) In the UK shifts in employment of older workers changed markedly over<br />
the past 30 years, from the 1970s with decline of blue-collar work, to a decline<br />
in other areas of work over the next two decades. Early retirement post-50<br />
became more common. Ageism extended to access to training (Knight, 2006).<br />
In 2006, the UK passed the employment equality (age) regulations providing<br />
a default retirement age of 65, <strong>and</strong> employees can request to work beyond<br />
that. Advice provided by the advisory conciliation <strong>and</strong> arbitration service,<br />
funded by the Department for Business Innovation <strong>and</strong> Skills, encourages<br />
challenging stereotypes about older people <strong>and</strong> work, <strong>and</strong> emphasises using<br />
human resources planning <strong>and</strong> career planning in all aspects, from recruitment<br />
to training (ACAS, 2010).<br />
Finl<strong>and</strong> is described as taking an integrated comprehensive policy<br />
approach to the <strong>ageing</strong> workforce with employment, pensions <strong>and</strong> learning<br />
considered in policy development <strong>and</strong> in line with the European Commission<br />
<strong>and</strong> the Organisation for Economic Cooperation <strong>and</strong> Development (OECD)<br />
(Taylor, 2002). The national programme on <strong>ageing</strong> workers was introduced in<br />
the 1990s. Many pathways were available to retire early, such as<br />
unemployment benefits, <strong>and</strong> unemployment, disability or early retirement<br />
pensions (OECD, 2010a). More recently, the OECD (2010b, p. 3) took a less<br />
optimistic view of Finl<strong>and</strong>, recommending less generous support for the<br />
unemployed <strong>and</strong> restricting early retirement schemes. Participation rates of<br />
older workers are lower than in the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway<br />
<strong>and</strong> Sweden) <strong>and</strong> the OECD recommends a multifaceted approach to address