Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa

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246 Working and ageing Guidance and counselling for mature learners organisational turnover are partly different from those behind voluntary retirement; whereas turnover is predicted by the degree of organisational commitment, retirement is predicted by work centrality and leisure activities (Adams and Beehr, 1998; Schmidt and Lee, 2008). The push and pull effects (Knuth and Kalina, 2002; Gruber and Wise, 1999) come into play: the alternative to leave the organisation must be sufficiently attractive, for instance by offering generous economical security (pull effects), or the direct or indirect pressure executed at the workplace to leave (push effects) must be strong enough to motivate the person to take the decision to leave. 13.3. The case In 2006, the Swedish Armed Forces decided to launch a three-year project aiming at phasing out older officers with a competence profile that did not comply with current and future demands. At the same time, young soldiers and sailors would be recruited to positions where willingness to participate in international peacekeeping forces would be required. Transferring older officers to civilian jobs would be based on consent, without formally discharging them. Their military competence plus some supplementary education would make them attractive in civilian trades – this was the idea. The aims of the project were to arrive at balance in personnel quantity and competences, and to recruit and wind up personnel concurrently. The project started with a test trial encompassing a few units, before it was extended to the entire organisation. Officers older than 38 were encouraged to apply to a programme with up to one yearʼs pay without job obligations and access to supplementary education and a personal external job coach. Conditions included that the supervisor of the unit – the commanding officer – must approve, and that the applicant had to resign before joining the programme; this could not be revoked. Unlike many other armed forces internationally, the pension age for Swedish officers is the same as in the labour market at large. This means that the model applied could be also relevant to other areas of business where a company may wish to shrink the organisation and phase out older employees without firing anybody. The project ended in 2009. It was then changed to a permanent career switching programme, which is currently one of the tools employed by the army in its continued endeavours to rejuvenate the organisation. The aim of the present study, carried out in 2009, is to document the strengths and weaknesses of the project, and to identify the reasons why it
CHAPTER 13 A Swedish programme for phasing out older employees based on consent and social responsibility 247 did not reach the volumes anticipated. The lessons learned from this project can help future initiatives by providing a comprehensive review of factors and conditions contributing to or hampering effectiveness. 13.3.1. Organisational background The median age in the organisation was 42 in 2008. There was a need to recruit about 1 500 military officers under the age of 35 and to wind up about the same number of older officers. New recruits were needed for operative tasks in units and international service. It was difficult to recruit older staff officers to such tasks, and unlike new recruits they were not obliged to accept such assignments. A stated goal was that the share of female officers should reach 9.3% by 2012. It was a mere 4.7% in 2008. In the armyʼs view, women officers are indispensable for international missions, and recruitment of women in the new organisation is a top priority. In the past, three-year pay and special pension benefits were given to officers who agreed to resign at age 55. They could not be fired due to the agreements made. This scheme was very popular, but it was also very expensive for the employer. The present situation is totally different. The retirement age is now the same as for the rest of the labour market: you may retire at 61, but you can decide to stay on until 65 or 67. The longer you continue working, the better the pension benefits. An officer who is made redundant before age 61 can have support for one year from a government fund, a job security agreement for government employees, also providing support for competence development. 13.3.2. Method and material Interview guides were developed for each category of stakeholders. Structured interviews were carried out with a set of stakeholders, including officers participating in the project, job coaches, and representatives of personnel departments (human resources) and trade unions. Commanding officers and representatives of the armed forces headquarters were interviewed. About 30 interviews were carried out in all, covering 10 different military units, representing army, navy and air force. The choice of units and professional groups was made in consultation with the armed forces headquarters. However, in the reporting, units as well as individuals were anonymous for reasons of integrity, in order not to suppress critical views. Interviews were documented by means of a digital voice recorder and notetaking. Almost all interviews were carried out face-to-face; however, for
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EN Working and ageing Guidance and
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A great deal of additional informat
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Foreword Population ageing is one o
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Acknowledgements This publication r
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8. Policy, research and practice: s
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14.2. Participation rates of indivi
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CHAPTER 1 Setting the scene: promot
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To improve quality and transparency
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Gomes present the set-up and outcom
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CHAPTER 2 Do European employers sup
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CHAPTER 5 Cognitive ageing in older
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PART 2 Meeting the challenges - Eme
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unmet demand is limited, as is the
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people in the second phase (25-50)
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CHAPTER 7 Learning, work and later
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are now better than ever before, es
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CHAPTER 8 Policy, research and prac
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will need to be supported by struct
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ʻflexicurityʼ model is challenged
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different forms of retirement (2010
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8.8. Policy considerations CHAPTER
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9.1. Introduction CHAPTER 9 Changin
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CHAPTER 9 Changing patterns of guid
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their continuing learning and devel
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Table 9.4. Use of past work experie
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CHAPTER 10 Career development in la
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Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa

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