Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
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264<br />
<strong>Working</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>ageing</strong><br />
Guidance <strong>and</strong> counselling for mature learners<br />
(c) finally, net migration has, historically, been negative with more people<br />
leaving than moving to Scotl<strong>and</strong> to live. Only in the past six years has this<br />
been positive, but Scotl<strong>and</strong> is now competing for workers within an<br />
emerging Europe <strong>and</strong> will continue to face challenges in attracting skilled<br />
workers in the future.<br />
The net result of these factors is that Scotl<strong>and</strong>ʼs population, <strong>and</strong> workforce,<br />
is <strong>ageing</strong>. The average age of individuals living <strong>and</strong> working in Scotl<strong>and</strong> today<br />
is 40.5 years <strong>and</strong> projected to increase steadily over the next 20 years<br />
(General Register Office for Scotl<strong>and</strong>, 2009).<br />
Public policy in Scotl<strong>and</strong> suggests that individuals will have to work longer<br />
<strong>and</strong> later in life due to increasing pressures on pension funds <strong>and</strong> other public<br />
services. But here lies the paradox. The government ( 53 ) plans to raise pension<br />
ages for women from 60 to 65 by 2018, then for both men <strong>and</strong> women to 66<br />
by 2020; while, many, predominantly public sector organisations, have<br />
adopted strategies such as early voluntary retirement or redundancy schemes<br />
which actively target older workers. Moreover, the default retirement age<br />
currently in place allows organisations to force individuals out of employment<br />
at 65, although this is due to be abolished by the newly-elected coalition<br />
government from October 2011.<br />
Strategic decision-making processes within organisations impact on the<br />
workforce, with older workers often being adversely affected. For example,<br />
the inconsistency <strong>and</strong> considerable flux in early retirement, retirement <strong>and</strong><br />
pension provision are ubiquitous (Vickerstaff et al., 2003, p. 273). Many private<br />
sector organisations have long since closed the door on final salary pensions<br />
with public sector organisations scrambling for ways to manage ever<br />
increasing pension costs. A common solution of reducing the number of older<br />
workers is often taken.<br />
A further area of disparity between older <strong>and</strong> younger workers is access to<br />
learning <strong>and</strong> development. Participation rates decline with age (Schuller <strong>and</strong><br />
Watson, 2009) <strong>and</strong> almost all talent management programmes offered by<br />
organisations target younger staff (Hirsch, 2005).<br />
As with most European countries, Scotl<strong>and</strong>ʼs demographic profile continues<br />
to change significantly <strong>and</strong>, already in some rural areas, one in three adults<br />
of working age are aged 50 <strong>and</strong> over. The <strong>ageing</strong> workforce phenomenon will<br />
most likely continue in the future, with fewer younger workers <strong>and</strong> an<br />
increasing number of older ones. This challenge requires a major shift in the<br />
( 53 ) While Scotl<strong>and</strong> has certain devolved powers, pensions <strong>and</strong> retirement fall under the jurisdiction of<br />
the UK government, which impacts all countries within the UK.