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Accueil > Tous les articles Working conditions of an ageing workforce Population ageing reflects the success of societies in securing higher living standards, which in turn results in increased longevity. However, the continued growth of older populations also poses serious challenges for policymakers, particularly in relation to economic growth. Increased expenditure on health and care for elderly people, and in particular a critical labour shortage as larger cohorts of workers retire at the same time, are some of the negative implications of population ageing which are set to pose a serious threat to macroeconomic performance and competitiveness, particularly in European countries. The European Commission forecasts that by 2030, the European Union will face a shortage of some 20.8 million people (6.8%) of working age. As a result, Europe has developed a wide range of policy responses in relation to the ageing problem. More specifically, the Lisbon European Council of 2000 and the Stockholm European Council of 2001 agreed new strategic goals for strengthening employment, economic reform and social cohesion in a knowledge-based economy. One of the principal goals is to increase the overall employment rate to 70%, the proportion of women in employment to 60% and the average employment rate of older people aged 55–64 years to 50% by 2010. Nonetheless, the results are variable in this regard across EU Member States. In order to achieve the Lisbon and Stockholm targets, it is important to encourage workers to remain in the labour market for a longer time. A prerequisite for this aim is increased job quality and sustainability over the lifecycle. In this context, four key areas have been identified, all of which are significant in shaping the age structure of the workforce: career and employment security; health and well-being; skills development; and reconciliation of workig and non-working life. Analysis of these four areas forms the basis of this report. The following sections will list some of the key findings outlined in this report relating to these four aspects, largely based on the results of the 2005 European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS). Career and employment security Ensuring career and employment security is important for promoting quality of work and employment. According to the 2005 EWCS data, significant variations emerge across age groups in the main characteristics of employment, such as the following: - low-educated workers and self-employed people are mainly composed of older workers; - older workers are over-represented in agricultural activities and, although to a lesser extent, in more knowledge-intensive sectors such as education; in contrast, their presence is below average in the hotels and restaurants and trade sectors; - the incidence of part-time work declines as age increases and rises again in the oldest age group; the latter also have a greater choice over whether or not to work part time; - temporary employment contracts are clearly concentrated among the youngest workers, although their prevalence increases somewhat among the oldest age group, especially among female workers. In relation to the key issues of employment security, job satisfaction and age discrimination in the workplace, the following findings emerge: - younger workers experience a higher incidence of job insecurity, while older workers seem to be more ‘protected’ against such risks; nonetheless, both older and younger female workers appear to be more exposed to job insecurity; - regarding the link between employment arrangements and job satisfaction, the EWCS data show that temporary contracts have a negative impact on workers’ job satisfaction, especially if associated with low employment security; - the effects of age on job satisfaction appear to be significant only among the youngest age group aged 15–24 years, who report a lower probability of being satisfied than other age groups; - the youngest and oldest age groups face the highest risk of age discrimination in the workplace, although there has been a slight decrease in the proportion of workers who report having been subjected to age discrimination, in particular among younger workers; - interestingly, a positive correlation emerges between education and skill levels and age discrimination, with the less-educated and skilled workers reporting lower levels of discrimination. In relation to the earnings profile of workers in the EU27, an inverted U-shape structure emerges, with the proportion of people with earnings above the median rising up to the age of 45–54 years, and then declining. This profile, which is similar to the usual earnings profile by age, may reflect the fact that workers’ productivity initially increases as they gain on-the-job experience but then plateaus or declines after a given age. Health and well-being Three aspects of the health and well-being dimension are examined in the report: risk exposure, work organisation and health problems. In relation to the issue of risk exposure: - a trend towards a reduction in risk exposure emerges with increasing age, although a worsening in working conditions is detected among those aged 45–55 years, particularly among women; - older workers report higher exposure levels to risks associated with physical position and repetitive movements or heavy workloads; - over the past 10 years, no particular improvements in worker exposure to physical risks have been observed in the EU15, although some improvements have been observed for workers aged 55 years and over. The issue of work organisation, another aspect affecting workers’ health and well-being, is addressed by looking at three areas: the degree of autonomy at work, the intensity of work and the spread of new high-performance work organisations (HPWOs). Some of the key findings in this regard reveal that: -work intensity decreases while autonomy rises with increasing age, especially when comparing the values of the extreme age groups; - involvement in HPWOs is low among older workers, whereas it is more widespread among younger workers; - working conditions appear to be most critical for the youngest generations, while conditions experienced by older workers seem to be more favourable. In relation to workers’ perception of their health status and of their ability to continue working at the age of 60, the findings show that: - young workers are least aware of the impact of work on their health, while those aged 45–54 years show a significantly higher probability of recognising this correlation; - working conditions involving exposure to physical risks, high work intensity and non-standard working hours result in a greater perception of the impact of work on health; - the proportion of workers who believe that their health or safety are at risk due to their working conditions has dropped significantly among those aged over 55 years; - the proportion of respondents who think they will be able to, or want to, do the same job at the age of 60 increases with age; - perceiving an effect of work on health, the presence of discrimination or violence at the workplace or employment contracts with low security significantly reduce respondents’ perception that they will be able to do the same job at 60 years of age. Skills development The findings in this context show that: -older workers receive less training than younger workers, and women have fewer opportunities in this respect compared with men; - the opportunity to learn new things at work is mainly given to adults, while women, especially older women, receive fewer opportunities than men; - the introduction of new technology has been found to be biased against low-skilled workers, and while it appears to have improved job opportunities in some fields, it has resulted in job losses for older workers; - other things being equal, older workers have a 10% lower probability of using computers at work than workers aged 25–35 years; however, in the EU15, a substantial decline has been recorded in the proportion of workers never using computers at work, the largest improvement being with respect to older workers. Reconciliation of working and non-working life Policies promoting a better balance between work and family responsibilities are encouraged by the European Commission and represent a major challenge for most European governments. The EWCS data provide some additional insight into this issue, including the following findings: - only a slight tendency towards a decline in the number of working hours is detected as workers age; - more generally, inflexible working time arrangements may discourage older workers from continuing to work for longer due to the difficulties in reconciling work and family life; - the proportion of workers who report having some power in choosing the organisation of their working time increases with age, although this is higher among those with non-standard working hours than on average; - older workers do not seem to carry as heavy a burden in terms of family responsibilities compared with middle-aged and female workers; however, although older workers show a lower engagement in caring for children, they have a higher likelihood of caring for an elderly or disabled relative compared with other age groups; - employment contracts and working time arrangements play an important role in determining workers’ satisfaction with work–life balance: lower levels of satisfaction are reported by those with non-standard working schedules, low levels of job security or employability, or higher caring responsibilities. Conclusions Age is an important factor in describing working conditions, with significant differences emerging between younger and older workers for most job characteristics. To cite just a few examples, younger workers are the most exposed to physical risk factors at the workplace and the least satisfied with working conditions. On the other hand, they receive more training opportunities and are more involved in HPWOs. Conversely, older workers are more ‘protected’ against risk exposure and have a higher degree of autonomy at the workplace and a lower degree of work intensity; however, they receive fewer opportunities with respect to involvement in new organisational forms, training and learning new things at work. Younger and older workers share a higher probability of being subjected to acts of discrimination at the workplace and, to a lesser extent, facing difficulties in accessing information technology. However, adult workers carry a heavier burden in relation to caring activities outside of work and report lower levels of satisfaction with work–life balance. An important target in terms of age concerns workers approaching retirement age, notably those who are between 45 and 54 years old. Thus, monitoring the working conditions of this group of workers in order to ascertain potential factors that could determine their premature exit from the labour market represents a crucial aim. Research on the issue of older workers’ employability, in fact, has pointed out how the low participation of older people in the labour market is the result of a combination of wage conditions, rigidity in workplace organisation, inadequate skills and competencies and poor health status, rather than the wish to retire early. Moreover, the analysis in this report has indicated that workers facing the worst working conditions and who are eligible to retire have probably already left the labour market. In an effort to sum up the role of the different working conditions in determining older people’s participation rates and to give a rough evaluation of how different factors facilitate or hinder the employment of older workers, the report concludes by correlating some aspects of working conditions with older workers’ employment rates. Accordingly, positive correlations are found with respect to work autonomy, the presence of HPWO, and access to learning and training. On the other hand, a clearly negative correlation is detected between employment rates and exposure to physical risks at work. At the same time, the correlation between satisfaction and employment participation appears to be positive. More information, click-here     Par K.S. Date 22-05-2008 Imprimer cet article| Envoyer à un ami | Réagir à cet article