ORGANISATIONS AND OLDER WORKERS: A MARRIAGE WITHOUT MAGIC

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ORGANISATIONS AND OLDER WORKERS A MARRIAGE
WITHOUT MAGIC Fair Play for Older Workers,
Amsterdam, September 2005
Joop Schippers      
Labour Economics and the Economics of Equal
Opportunity Utrecht University Vredenburg
138 3511 BG Utrecht, Netherlands E-mail
J.Schippers_at_ECON.UU.NL
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Employed men (in ), by age, NL, 1987-2003
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Employed women (gt 12 hours), by age (in ), NL,
1987-2003
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Employed persons (MW), by age (), NL, 1987-2003
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• Restrictions to older workers
  participation
• Workers gt worn out, fed up with the daily
  grind
• Human capital gt obsolete
• Employers do not offer older workers many
  opportunities
• 65 years gt rigid retirement age
• (Until recently) Few financial incentives to keep
  participating

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Employers views on probable consequences of an
ageing work force () 2000 2005 Increased
wage costs 73 78 Increased resistance to change
57 54 A rise in sick leave 56 54 Increased
knowledge and experience levels
55 63 Deterioration of external image 15 17 A
rise in productivity 7 6 N 1019 433
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Measures concerning older workers (
organisations using a measure) 2000
2005 Ergonomic measures 65 52 Extra
leave/holidays 62 58 (PT) early retirement
scheme 51 48 Flexible working hours 47 28 Easier
tasks 41 34 Age limit for irregular
work 35 33 Overtime exemption 34 29 Training
plan 21 15 Demotion 7 6
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• Organisations policies towards older workers
• Adaptive, permissive
• But less than in the past
• Older workers seem to become more regular
• Older workers are not an asset to the
  organisation

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• Combatting staff shortages
• Higher pay rates 10
• More overtime 21
• Recr. more women 23
• Extending the work week 4
• Recr. more ethnic minorities 23
• Labour saving technology 18
• Recr. more older workers 8
• Improving skills 42
• More disabled 28

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• In case of a vacancy there are 3 qualified
  candidates available. Which one will you choose?
• Someone who just completed his/her
  education 22
• A candidate with 6 years experience 75
• A candidate with 25 years experience 3

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• What redundancy programme would you choose to
  cut 5 of the workforce?
• Last in, first out 7
• Early retirement for 58 16
• Based on the proportional distribution of
  employees of different ages 4
• Restructuring by retaining the best quality
  employees 73

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• What will happen to the age at which workers
  stop working?
• NL Own organisation
• Increase 73 51
• No changes 23 43
• Decrease 4 6

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• Who is primarily responsible?
• Org Worker Gov
• Pension 29 47 24
• Education lt 20 4 35 61
• Education, 2nd half of career 48 50 2
• Childcare 9 57 35
• Early retirement 31 45 25
• Career breaks 37 56 8

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• Conclusions
• Organisations and older workers a marriage
  without magic
• Leads for improving this bond (employers are
  aware of ageing work force, shortages, increase
  in retirement age, the need for quality and their
  responsibility for education)
• They still need help to turn this awareness into
  concrete actions