Page 87 - Socially-responsible-restructuring-Effective-strategies-for-supporting-redundant-workers

Socially responsible restructuring
Effective strategies for supporting redundant workers

essential in any support package made available to displaced staff; in all cases
they were, though to varying extents. The PES seems to have been most actively
involved in those cases where it is invited onto the employers’ sites to deliver
information on their services and benefit options. The key issues and potential
constraints include the speed with which the services respond (being on site as
quickly as possible is essential when the consultation period is short) and the
quality of service offered. This was a particular issue for the case study in
Slovakia but less so for the more mature and developed PES arrangements in
the other Member States. The review suggests this is a feature of at least some
other of the newer Member States, in particular those emerging from central state
controlled economies.
One other condition for the effective use of the PES and other support
mechanisms in the public sector is their willingness and ability to work with
private agencies engaged and funded by the employer. In one case (Anglesey
Aluminium in the UK) there was an initial degree of tension between the private
outplacement agency and the careers service provider but, under the
encouragement of the employer, they managed to establish some clear lines of
demarcation, setting the basis for collaborative working that then proved effective
(Case study 11).
Finally, in assessing the enabling conditions to effective support, displaced
workers are not a homogeneous group and do not lend themselves to a ‘one size
fits all’ approach. On the contrary, the ability of career guidance support to
provide for at least some customised element in differentiating support to
individual needs and circumstances seems a common success factor for case
studies in different national contexts. The case studies have demonstrated that
employees come from a variety of backgrounds and face different challenges in
finding a new role. In Anglesey Aluminium (UK), many of the employees have
very long service and have been out of the job market for some considerable
time; they need special support in job search and interview techniques. However,
in EnergoMont (Slovakia) there was no extra support for those especially
vulnerable workers through the PES. In AutoVision (Germany) the problem of
finding suitable alterative employment was hampered by a low level of
geographic mobility among the workers caused, in part, by their long attachment
to one employer. There was some evidence that the more support given
(particularly of the financial sort as in Siemens), the greater the danger that
employees will artificially prolong their support period, leading to inefficiencies
across the board.

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