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Working and ageing
290 Guidance and counselling for mature learners

In addition, policy and strategy action and concrete measures in the work
place should aim at improving working conditions and providing more effective
incentives for working longer (better access to lifelong guidance and lifelong
learning for skills upgrading; adaptation of the work place to older workersʼ
health status; financial benefits such as tax privileges, age management
strategies at company level, etc.).
Analysis and evidence in this publication suggest to explore further how
specific approaches to guidance can better support longer careers of ageing
people (within the national framework of key policies in which ageing is a
transversal element) and how private and public employersʼ strategies on
active age management can contribute. Exploring efficiency of different
approaches in national contexts across countries can maximise the potential
for policy learning. Future research should include impact evaluations of
guidance and counselling in a lifecycle perspective, to provide better evidence
on the long-term impact of guidance and counselling on career success.
Another important issue for future research is analysis of the role of guidance
and counselling for ageing people who are either at risk of being made
redundant or have to make transitions in times of restructuring. Initiatives
aimed at assisting ageing people should correspond to realities of modern
careers, which requires better evidence and further research.
Cedefop is committed to pursue research along these lines. The Centre will
carry out a comparative study to investigate how lifelong guidance is
embedded in the EU, national policies, strategies on active ageing, and in
employerʼs age management strategies supporting older workersʼ (55+)
lifelong learning and skills development. The planned study will explore to
what extent various guidance services in real terms address the issue of
staying longer in employment. Results of this study should be available in
2013.