The ageing workforce

Citation

(1999), "The ageing workforce", Work Study, Vol. 48 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.1999.07948daf.006

The ageing workforce

The increasing longevity of the population within the European Union has been greeted in many quarters by profoundly pessimistic attitudes towards ageing, and its economic costs. Paying for pensions and dependency are seen as expensive social problems; having many more older people means increased costs for public budgets in health care and social security. At the same time the average age of the workforce has been increasing and will continue to do so; but paradoxically the age at which workers leave the labour market has declined over the last 20 years.

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has now built up a significant body of evidence which covers the ageing population, the ageing workforce and the relationship between the ageing population and the workforce. EU-wide projects have dealt with issues around the retention of an ageing workforce in productive employment and the family care of older dependent people. It has also addressed questions of: how do we reconcile work and care of older relatives and promote the concept of working and caring for the old?

Dealing with dependency

According to Rob Anderson, research manager with the Foundation, this sense of crisis does not reflect the range of options available for supporting the older people and their carers.

"I feel that the debate could be moved on. We carried out a study, Who Will Care - Future Prospects for Family Care of Older People to identify key influences in the future demand for, and supply of, care. The study presented four main options to be considered: preventing dependency e.g. through health promotion; providing support to the family carers through work place initiatives; the development of more imaginative community care and the promotion of better residential arrangements for institutional care."

In the last few years the focus of the Foundation's work has moved to employment prospects of an ageing workforce which has become a growing issue in European social policy and is reflected in the 1999 Employment guidelines.

``Older workers have experienced discrimination in both recruitment and training, and these are people aged 40-45 not only 60 or over. This is not sustainable from the point of view of companies; it is also not sustainable from the point of view of the workers who increasingly have fewer options in terms of early pensions and benefits. Workers have an interest in ensuring career development and that there is no discrimination against them."

Managing an ageing workforce

The Foundation's work seeks to identify strategies to maintain older people in employment - to retain, to retrain and reintegrate these workers by looking at what can be done at the public policy level and in the workplace. The project Combating Age Barriers in Employment has formulated good practice guidelines - Managing an Ageing Workforce: A Guide to Good Practice - directed at employers, unions and governments. Over 150 initiatives, covering all employment sectors, are documented and included in a European Portfolio of Good Practice. These initiatives show that positive changes are taking place and companies are seeing benefits of more progressive attitudes towards older workers.

A caring society

The Foundation's research has underlined the strength of family ties and the extent to which family care of older people is the cornerstone of policies for care of older people in Europe.

"In general, most people receive rather extensive support from their families; in all Member States, most of the care of older dependants is being carried out by family members even in countries where state services are well developed. But at what cost is this done - to the caring families, to the older person and to business and society?"

Nevertheless some groups of older people are at risk of neglect, and support for carers has not been high on the agenda.

Foundation research on family care of the elderly examined the needs of family carers across the EU in order to inform the development of public policies and community services. It has also looked at legislation on working time, and at support in the work place - including the organisation of working hours and advisory services.

"There is a great deal to be done to reconcile working and family life and an important part of that is reconciling working and caring for older people. Focusing on what elderly people have to give, as well as their support needs will be vital in the future. The elderly, a large and diverse group, have a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience."

For more information, contact: teresa.renehan@eurofound.ie