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CHAPTER 3
Demographic changes and challenges in Europe with special focus on Germany 55

more attractive, so that waged work could compete better against
non-waged work activities. Job enrichment and a more attractive
working environment might, therefore, prove effective (Sørensen
and Møberg, 2005). Counselling both enterprises and older
persons could be a promising element to identify new chances –
especially for the predicted skills shortage and demographic
changes. In Germany, employment agencies are the first contact
points for both.

3.5. Empirical results from CVTS3 and the
AgeQual project

Discussion on the influences of push, pull, jump, stay and (re)entry processes
makes it clear that public policy can primarily influence pull forces and indirectly
stay and (re)entry forces which govern exit and entry mechanisms on the
labour market, the supply side. However, policies influencing enterprises have
a role to play as well – it is also important to consider the demand side of the
labour market. Importance of the demand side is most directly related to stay
and (re)entry forces, since enterprises decide on hiring and firing. Ability of
enterprises to avoid involuntary ʻjumpʼ is limited in the short term, but could be
improved over the longer term if enterprises concentrate their personnel
policies more on training/retraining and improving working conditions in
enterprises. Stay and (re)entry forces are significant in negative aspects of pull
forces. To attract appropriate staff an enterprise must ensure that the working
conditions resulting from a personnel policy are well adjusted to the – divergent
– preferences of both existing staff members and those to be recruited.
What can enterprises do for older employees (stay) and eventually for older
unemployed persons ((re)entry)? Which measures are enterprises initiating
and how can they afford support (such as financial support or counselling)?
Some answers are given in the next sections: first, by presenting some results
of the third European continuing vocational training survey (CVTS3) and the
additional German CVTS3 survey ( ). Second, the Leonardo-II project
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AgeQual, continuing vocational training for older employees in SMEs and
development of regional support structures, shows how enterprises can be
supported, for example by regional qualification networks.

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( ) Especially the latter survey shows that provision of effective support for older employees requires
a differentiated mixture of measures.