News
Reaching EU targets for the over 50s
February 2007
In 2001, the European Union (EU) Member States adopted targets to increase the
share of older workers in employment from an EU average of 40% to 50% by 2010.
Since that time, Member States have been busily working to develop policies and
launch initiatives to reach these targets, changing the way older workers are
perceived in our culture and society, and maximising the role that experienced
workers in the over the age of 50 can play in the labour market. So what
progress has been made against these targets, and what relevant lessons and
examples can be drawn from EQUAL? Read on to find out...
The context and progress so far
Successful reforms have been set up successfully in sixteen Member States, which
have led to increases of 5% or more, with especially strong rises (over 10%) in
Finland, Hungary and Latvia. These positive results have been particularly down
to active ageing policies and reforms in the area of pensions systems [1].
However, despite these reforms, there is still work to be done. As Vladimír
Špidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, put
it: "Despite the rise in the employment rates of women and older workers,
progress towards the overall employment rate target of 70% is simply not fast
enough. It is clear that reaching this requires more effort in most
Member States. Rigorous implementation of reforms in line with the European
Employment Guidelines must be the order of the day" [2].
In the 2006 Spring European Council, the Heads of State and Government
reiterated the need for the more effective and comprehensive implementation of
the European Employment Strategy, particularly by emphasising a number of
aspects, such as an adequate balance between security and flexibility in the
labour market (i.e. "flexicurity"), mobility, education and skills, and a
life-cycle approach to labour force. Clearly, many of these aspects embraced the
issue of active aging, an issue that was already emphasised in the 2004 European
Spring Council during which the European Commission identified active ageing as
one of the three core priority areas for which actions were rapidly needed to
realise the goals of the Lisbon Strategy. At this same time, the social partners
were called upon to design and implement comprehensive active ageing practices
in workplaces and across labour markets. The conclusions of the 2005 Spring
Council again underlined the importance of extending working life and of
initiating active ageing strategies.
But against this background of policy priorities and messages, what's the
situation now? Well recently, the European Commission issued a
Green Paper "
Confronting demographic change: a new solidarity between the
generations", which restates the significance of the challenge for Europe of
its ageing population. The Commission wants both companies and workers, as well
as other concerned parties to participate in the forthcoming debate on the Green
Paper and to put forward their views to inform on the next steps. This
consultation process (open until the 31 March 2007) will help to identify and
gather the main policy issues and options across the EU, and most critically,
will form the basis of a follow-up Commission Communication later in 2007.
Another key development is the recently published Commission Communication on "The
demographic future of Europe – from challenge to opportunity" [3]
which also stresses that active ageing should take account of the opportunities
offered by trends of increased life expectancy and better health at an advanced
age. To launch this Communication, a
Forum event was held in Brussels on 30 and 31 October 2006, and included
some interesting sessions covering the different themes of the Communication,
namely:
- Gender equality at home as a precondition for work-life balance
- Active ageing in a life course perspective
- Successful migration and integration
- Family policies: a way for society to invest in children
- Preventive health measures assisted living and long term care
- Regional opportunities for managing demographic change
- Presentation of the results of the pilot action on demographic
change
And a policy makers' round table: "Reform preparing for ageing: implementation
problems and opportunities"
Some of the key messages from the Forum included the need to support active
ageing alongside and as an integral part of lifelong learning, healthy working
conditions; the adaptation of work places and work organisation to the needs of
older workers; as well as the importance of the right incentives to encourage
older workers to remain on the labour market.
EQUAL and active ageing: still a major theme!
So where is EQUAL currently situated in terms of addressing
the issues of active ageing and age management? And what insights does it offer
for current debates around the Commission Green Paper and Communication? In
answer to these questions, here is a quick summary of related work in EQUAL,
followed by a number of useful examples.
The theme of older workers and age management was
particularly strong in the first round of EQUAL between 2001 and 2004. The 117
Development Partnerships (DP) set up during this timeframe were very innovative,
developing new types of work organisation within companies, and new cultures and
perceptions vis-à-vis older workers within the labour market. These successful
practices are now published (see here). Most of theses activities were also supported by very active
national thematic networks focusing on age management; some
success stories of these networks, notably
those in France, Germany and Ireland, have also been published. Since the
launch of the second round of EQUAL (in 2005), there is
evidence that age management is still a
prominent theme.
Some promising DPs can already be highlighted here, like
the Polish DP
Alliance for Work. This partnership works to increase labour market
participation by using the potential of the over 45s in a 'jobcoaching'
capacity, as well as by improving the employment potential of older workers
through up-skilling and training. Most of all, it aims to change the
psychological and cultural attitudes, both those of older workers vis-à-vis
their own professional worth, as well as those of employers and trade unions in
relation to employing and managing a more mature workforce.
Similar objectives are pursued by the British DP,
Skill Analysis, which, on the one hand,
influences SME employment policy in the recruitment and retention of older
workers by identifying undiscovered competences, and on the other, enables older
workers to influence potential employers by providing evidence of their
individual competencies.
Another good example is the Swedish project
Life competence - a plus for 50+
that
has created a comprehensive approach for those over 50, which includes an audit
of existing material concerning the target group, the development of a
'competence analysis', the establishment of a network of agencies, and working
with employers to increase awareness of the competences of those over 50 and
ultimately prevent discrimination. The project's overall goal is that older
people will be able to provide tailor-made services (e.g. mentoring) and
administrative support to companies on the basis of their revealed competences.
In Finland, the
Making a change a chance DP focuses
on the ageing employees of SME retailers, wholesalers and service producers,
developing the willingness and flexibility of SMEs to respond to changes in the
Finnish economy through innovative and comprehensive approaches improving the
adaptability of firms by raising the skills and "readiness for change" of their
most vulnerable workers. The project aims at fostering the synergies between
quality at work, productivity and employment, developing active and preventive
labour market measures including the early identification of needs, guidance and
training as part of personalised action plans, as well as providing services to
support the inclusion and adaptability of enterprises and their workforce.
Aside from the DP activities themselves, there have been a
number of interesting age management networks and events within EQUAL. For
example, the
Polish Network has not only provided an open place for
discussion, sharing good practice and innovative ideas, but also by a spring
board for the results of the EQUAL projects to reach key actors, at all levels.
Aside from the projects represented on this network, there have been policy
makers, social partners and thematic experts, all of whom have been able to
provide support inside, as well as ensure the impact outside of the network.
Other networks have been set up, in Belgium, Germany,
Greece, Portugal and Spain. Great things are expected from these networks as
they include significant policy makers and actors, and draw directly on the
lessons and firm foundation from the Round 1. Germany, for instance, has
expanded the network set up in 2001, with the official participation of INQA,
the "New Quality of Work Initiative" which is a joint project of the Federal
Government, the Länder, social insurance institutions and the social partners.
The German network is also further developing an 'Age Management Tool Box',
based on the original model that was launched under the first round.
Transnationality works - Building strength among EQUALs
Collecting good practice that can be transferred or adapted
at the European level is – and continues to be - a major achievement of EQUAL.
The conference organised in
Warsaw in 2004 or the
Agora in Paris in 2005 showed that national representatives at local,
regional or national level are very interested in hearing and exchanging
experiences with and from other countries. This transnational exchange between
countries is important part of EQUAL.
A recent good example of a transnational meeting is the one
organised by the Alliages
- Alliance
pour la valorisation de la diversité à tous les âges (for the Diversity of All Ages) DP. This
project, together with their Italian partner Start Again After 45!,
met on 1 December 2006. Through the meeting and associated activities, the two
partners have been able to exchange the experiences in terms of maintaining 45+
workers in the labour market who are at risk of exclusion because of low levels
of qualification, a lack of career development, etc. They have also been able to
discuss possible methodologies to implement in companies to promote an
age-embracing equal opportunity policy. The planned end product of this work
will be the publication of a guide for distribution to SME managers and
employees.
The benefit of transnationality has also been seen recently
in Poland. The Polish EQUAL Managing Authority organised the
Adaptability Peer Review on 3 and 4 October 2006, bringing together
DP representatives from seven countries, namely Belgium, Ireland, Great Britain,
Spain, Portugal, Greece and Poland. The event was structured around four main
themes, each of them constituting a strand of the Adaptability pillar. Of
particular relevance, the session on the age management concluded that there is
still progress to make in raising the companies' awareness towards the
employment of older workers. Workers themselves also need to be convinced that
lifelong learning is a necessity to adapt to the changing world.
What next?
There is still plenty going on in EQUAL relating to age management. Apart from
the ongoing DP activities themselves, there are a number of conferences and
workshops planned. In particular, it's worth mentioning that the Life
Competence – a plus for 50+ project will be organising a large-scale
European conference
Competence 50+ on 18 to 20 June 2007, involving up to 500 EQUAL DP
representatives, decision-makers and researchers. The conference will involve
plenary sessions, seminars, interactive workshops, exhibition space and - on the
last day - a session specifically devoted to mingling and establishing contacts
in a structured form with the view to creating new transnational partnerships.
In the words of Anders Östebo, coordinator at the National Institute for Working
Life - one of the Partner organisations in Life Competence – a plus for 50+,
this event will "provide an excellent opportunity for EQUAL projects to find
others who have worked with similar approaches to meet and discuss possibilities
to work together in the future, learn from each other and come up with new
ideas. It is also very important for us to involve researchers, as the link
between practitioners and the research community has been less than evident - we
think that these two groups have much to learn from each other! It
definitely lies in the interests of politicians across Europe to find out about
successful innovative approaches to age management. We will provide the forum
where they can do this."
Source of Information
In support of this article, here are some useful sources of
information to look through.
|
European Commission
OECD
European Foundation for the improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Other information sources:
|
[1]
Employment in Europe 2006' report, published by the European
Commission in November 2006 - eighteenth edition based on the data
available as of July 2006 providing a detailed picture of the employment
structure in Europe. It gives indications on the gender, type of work,
ageing structure, mobility, etc.
[2]
Press Release "EU
job situation improves, but new reform push needed to hit 2010 target",
6/11/2006
[3]
Brussels, 12.10.2006, COM(2006) 571 final
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