Working and ageing - Cedefop - Europa

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Working and ageing
Guidance and counselling for mature learners
economic and non-economic transitional forces are described as push, pull
and jump processes, steering labour supply, and stay and (re)entry processes,
steering labour demand. The main questions for understanding these
transitional forces, for example, from work into retirement and vice versa, are
whether these transitional forces are based on structural constraints or on
rational individual choices.
Labour supply aspects are:
(a) push forces: primarily endogenous work-related forces, such as worsening
working conditions, increasing workload and work stress;
(b) pull forces: primarily exogenous forces, such as favourable pension
arrangements (such as early exit options);
(c) jump forces: more based on individual preferences (choices between
voluntary work and employment, leisure activities and employment, etc.).
Labour demand aspects are:
(a) stay forces: primarily endogenous work-related forces, such as favourable
continuing vocational training conditions in enterprises or working and
health conditions;
(b) (re)entry forces: primarily exogenous forces, such as abolition of early exit
options, increase of pension age.
Transitional processes are partly determined by policy interventions from
the State. National regulation of pensions and early retirement schemes partly
determines the employment rate in the 55 to 64 age group. However,
willingness and interest among enterprises to retain older members of their
staff in employment and/or increase recruitment among unemployed older
persons prepared to work again, is crucial. Besides policy measures and
economic conditions, a decision over staying or leaving the labour market also
depends on a wide diversity of non-economic motivations of a jobʼs appeal
related to individual preferences –compared with freedom to choose how to
spend free time following retirement. It is a combination of economic and noneconomic
motivations, incentives and disincentives, which steers transition in
and out of work respectively.
3.4.3. Transitional forces influencing labour supply
Push The most decisive push factor is dismissal of employees. Such
redundancies could be a result of general recession – or of reduced
employment in some sectors or in certain enterprises in a sector.
Another important push factor is (partial) disability of employees. A
less decisive push factor would be worsening job conditions. Such
worsening could affect most employees in an enterprise – or it could