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Working and ageing
34 Guidance and counselling for mature learners

Positive scores in Table 2.3 indicate that older workers are considered to
perform better than younger workers. Negative scores in the table indicate
that younger workers are considered to perform better than older workers.
The results for each country show to a certain extent a similar picture. Older
workers are considered to be more reliable, more committed, more accurate
and are supposed to have better social skills. Older workers are rated most
negatively with respect to their willingness to be trained, their physical capacity
and their capacity to deal with new technology. With regard to customer-
oriented skills and productivity the results are mixed. Employers in the UK
judge older workersʼ productivity higher than that of young workers. Employers
in the Netherlands and in Greece are most negative about older workersʼ
productivity.

2.4.3. Ageing of the workforce: policies and measures
Lagging labour productivity and other negative consequences of an ageing
workforce perceived can induce employers to take several steps to solve
looming labour shortages, due to demographic shifts on the labour market.
Table 2.4 lists the policy measures which employers have taken so far to retain
older personnel.
Greek and Spanish employers have implemented fewer measures,
although they are likely to be heavily affected by an ageing population
structure. Based on the number of actions taken one would expect the older
worker to be in the best position in the Netherlands. However, on closer
examination of the measures taken it appears that the Dutch employer only
takes politically-correct measures, like extra leave, part-time retirement, and
ergonomic measures, and avoids harder measures (like demotion, which
would raise conflict with employees and unions). Also, part-time retirement
schemes are just one example of costly measures that tend to ʻspareʼ older
workers. Fewer obligations and more privileges are generally proposed and
negotiated. Privileges such as additional leave, age-related holiday
entitlements, workload reduction, age limits for irregular work, or exemption
from working overtime are quite normal in the Netherlands. Given all prior
policy discussions – both at national and European levels – on issues like
ʻemployabilityʼ, lifelong learning and the need to turn Europe into a knowledge-
based society, it is remarkable that so few employers report offering training
programmes for older workers. In Greece and Spain it is only one in 10, in the
Netherlands one in eight, in the UK one in six and in Hungary, that shows the
best performance in this field, it is still not more than one in five. This pattern
is reflected in other European data sources on training participation among