EU Employment Week: Reflecting Europe’s diversity

Are EU measures aiming at increasing the employment rate of older workers delivering, asks Anne-Sophie Parent.

In the framework of today’s debate around demographic change, keeping people at work for longer is perceived as essential to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of our social protection systems.

Various initiatives are implemented at national and local level, some more successful than others.

Finding or keeping a job in a high unemployment context remains a huge challenge, in particular for the young and the over 50s. Both groups face similar age discrimination.

This is due partly to real barriers – such as financial disincentives and obsolete social protection schemes – and for a great deal it has to do with assumptions about their ability to cope with the work.

While younger workers are wrongly perceived as lacking experience and unreliable, older workers are considered to be reluctant to change, too costly and less productive.

This situation is morally and socially unacceptable. Not only because it creates an unbearable burden on social budgets but also because the EU cannot afford to waste such a significant part of its human capital if it wants to keep its leading position on the global scene.

If employment is the “key” to social inclusion, we should aim at full employment not just for the sake of ensuring the sustainability of our social models but to ensure everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their full potential in life.

Following the adoption of the EU framework directive 2000/78, policy makers became aware of the complex issue of age discrimination.

Ambitious targets were set in the framework of the Lisbon strategy and all member states decided to do something to keep workers in the workforce for longer.

For example, anonymous CVs have been introduced to try to achieve equal opportunities in recruitment procedures.

This might work for people from ethnic minorities but it does not work for older workers. Just looking at the work history is enough for anyone to assess the applicant’s age.

Some member states tried to create incentives for employers to hire specific age groups by making them “more attractive” – i.e. less protected – than the rest of the workforce.

This approach has usually not delivered the expected results and one recent example is the “Contrat Première Embauche” in France which had to be withdrawn as soon as it was adopted.

Another example is the Mangold case in Germany, where draft legislation which would have allowed employers to hire workers aged over 52 under limited contracts without any restriction was deemed to constitute age discrimination and forbidden by the European courts.

In other countries, active labour market policies targeting the over 50s succeeded in increasing the employment rate of older workers: Finland, for example, whose active ageing policy is delivering very significant outcomes.

So, what lessons can we draw from the limited experience gathered so far on measures to promote the employability of older workers?

We feel that labour legislation should aim at compensating the age factor in such a way that it becomes neutral for both employers and workers.

This means creating incentives for both employers and workers without being detrimental.

It means also that an age friendly culture needs to be promoted both inside and outside the labour market.

Awareness needs to be raised on the value of a diverse workforce which reflects the diversity of today’s EU population.

The rapidly changing needs of our ageing and increasingly diverse workforce must be better taken on board when designing new labour market policies and innovative ways have to be found to match these expectations with market needs.

We need policies to increase financial incentives to make work pay, while providing high unemployment protection to those who can’t find a new job.

In our view successful stories are those which aim at improving working conditions for all, increase job satisfaction, restrict early retirement schemes with public support to cases where major restructuring is unavoidable and allow part time work to be combined with part-time pensions.

We must raise awareness of research done on the productivity of seniors which shows that there is no direct link between age and productivity and should invest public money in support of training programmes targeting those most likely to be excluded from the labour market and make it mandatory as well as more attractive for employers to provide equal access to training to older workers.

Increasing the employment rate of older workers is a shared responsibility: public authorities, employers, trade unions and civil society organisations providing support to victims of discrimination, all have an important role to play as well as the individuals who need to be empowered to remain active for as long as they wish and can.

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