Page 52 - Socially-responsible-restructuring-Effective-strategies-for-supporting-redundant-workers

Socially responsible restructuring
Effective strategies for supporting redundant workers

orientation weeks, where clients are helped to prepare individual career plans,
and this is followed by an implementation phase lasting up to four years. This
includes retraining funded by the previous employer or by the regional
government.
There is more limited comparative evidence specifically related to PES and
enterprise restructuring, or PES and guidance interventions for those in
employment or at notice of redundancy. However, policy at European level is
seeking a wider and more effective access by adults to guidance to support
career management by individuals and not just short-term adjustments for job-
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seekers ( ). There remain concerns, however, as to the capacities (and policy
focus) of PES in supporting more integrated approaches (Sultana and Watts,
2005; European Commission, 2009c).

2.6. Individuals and restructuring

Any review of career guidance and enterprise restructuring cannot ignore either
the centrality of individuals in socially responsible practices, or the actions to be
taken by individuals themselves, as displaced workers. With the Council
Resolution on Guidance (2008) on lifelong learning and guidance, there is
growing policy emphasis on building individuals’ own career management skills
and supporting their lifelong transitions within the labour market and outside. The
extent to which individuals are able to manage their careers and lives, in and
after redundancy, is likely to vary greatly within and across different national
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labour markets. A recent Eurobarometer study ( ) found that Swedes and Danes
were most optimistic in respect of labour market transitions and the threat of
redundancy. These two countries have a notably high degree of ‘flexicurity’ and,
it could be argued, are both temporarily compensated for the loss of their job and
have a good chance of getting a new one in case of redundancy.
Individuals at work have a variety of career guidance and development needs,
which are not being met effectively and successfully through formal career
support structures at work, potentially leaving at-risk individuals poorly prepared
to cope with restructuring. Past research has also suggested that some
employees, due to some sort of ‘psychological contract’ with their employing
company, have higher expectations of what their employer can realistically
provide, over and above the terms of their actual contract of employment; this

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( ) This is a feature of the underpinning principles in the Commission Conclusions of November
2008 on better integrated lifelong guidance in lifelong learning strategies.
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( ) See: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb70/eb70_en.htm [cited 6.5.2010].

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