Page 122 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

Increasing the value of age: guidance in employers’ age management strategies

Systems should be in place, therefore, to help older workers overcome
issues such as skills obsolescence, low self-confidence and stereotyping. These
systems should help overcome barriers to work and learning, by improving
employers’ attitudes to older workers, improving management support to older
workers, diminishing age discrimination, improving health/work conditions, and
raising qualifications. This could be done by providing accreditation of prior
learning, stimulating relevant work experience, improving basic skills, recognising
the qualifications of older, experienced migrants, overcoming outdated skills,
improving attitude of job seekers by increasing their level of self-confidence, and
providing care facilities. Systems should also be in place to help people aspiring
to career change find affordable training opportunities.

Challenge 2
Guidance is normally not a specific focus in age management strategies. For
example, in Sweden there are no designated funds available for lifelong guidance
as an instrument for age management. The same can be said of Germany, where
lifelong guidance is mentioned in connection with education and learning rather
than with active age management, although there are measures and support
instruments that offer various kinds of guidance for older jobless persons, older
workers or employers, also in fields other than (vocational) education. The Czech
programme for quality of life in old age covers four main areas: education, the
social security system, employment policy, and social partnerships, but it still
lacks concrete guidance measures. If guidance is embedded it usually concerns
career guidance implemented in active labour market policies and vocational and
educational training provision, most of the time not specifically addressing older
workers.

Challenge 3
Guidance for active age management is still poorly represented in organisation
human resources strategies. This requires national or sector policies that provide
incentives for employers to provide accessible high quality guidance. Such
incentives should stimulate cooperation between different stakeholders and
privilege the development of career management skills for older workers.

Challenge 4
Development and implementation of an age management strategy in which
guidance activities play an important role, requires investment from firms. Small
and medium-sized enterprises have limited financial means for such purposes.
Access to additional funds from sector-level organisations, national programmes
or European common funds, can play a key role. Information collected at country

109