Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa
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<strong>Working</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>ageing</strong><br />
Guidance <strong>and</strong> counselling for mature learners<br />
workers <strong>and</strong> recognition of diversity among the heterogeneous group of older<br />
adults are also crucial. Delivery mechanisms should consider individual work<br />
<strong>and</strong> learning goals <strong>and</strong> preferences <strong>and</strong> in a holistic perspective to age<br />
management combine appropriate tools to support active <strong>ageing</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
encourage effective learning <strong>and</strong> working. They should provide clients with<br />
reliable information to empower their decisions on when <strong>and</strong> how to retire.<br />
This requires tailoring services to the aspirations of older adults <strong>and</strong> timing<br />
actions <strong>and</strong> interventions in the right way.<br />
In terms of action priorities, more individualised information, advice <strong>and</strong><br />
guidance for older workers, supporting a good work-life balance <strong>and</strong><br />
strengthening the role of employers to keep people at work longer were<br />
emphasised in several chapters. All these aspects have an impact on the<br />
content of guidance <strong>and</strong> counselling. Accompanying investments in skills need<br />
to be relevant within the confines of a single job, but also in the broader context<br />
of personal <strong>and</strong> career goals, which emphasises their strong links with career<br />
management. It should strike the right balance between investment in specific<br />
skills <strong>and</strong> knowledge <strong>and</strong> key competences improving individual employability.<br />
Further it should make use of the increasingly implemented recognition <strong>and</strong><br />
validation schemes that give value to skills which may have been acquired in<br />
non-formal ways. This will increase options for the individual <strong>and</strong> help to avoid<br />
underutilisation of skills.<br />
Guidance service providers are increasingly expected to be specialists in<br />
all relevant areas of working later in life <strong>and</strong> to be able to provide services that<br />
support the transition to retirement. This requires more specialised<br />
professional training <strong>and</strong> better opportunities for continuing professional<br />
development for guidance counsellors who work with older adults.<br />
Encouraging support from all sides<br />
Several chapters address the necessity of creating favourable conditions <strong>and</strong><br />
incentives that encourage older workers to stay in employment rather than to<br />
make an early exit from the labour market. They also identify what prevents<br />
older people from staying longer in employment: a complex <strong>and</strong> intertwined<br />
set of barriers linked to context <strong>and</strong> practice such as low dem<strong>and</strong> from<br />
employers, scarce opportunities for upskilling, insufficient reintegration <strong>and</strong><br />
retraining provision after redundancy, difficulties in accessing information,<br />
advice <strong>and</strong> guidance services, <strong>and</strong> persistent stereotypes.<br />
The available evidence suggests that sustainable results can be achieved<br />
when the overall context is sympathetic to <strong>ageing</strong>. Age management is not<br />
just a matter for employers <strong>and</strong> employees: it has to be embraced by all key