Tijdschrift voor Arbeidsvraagstukken - Volume 23, Issue 3, 2007

Vanaf het begin van de jaren negentig is de arbeidsparticipatie van 55-plussers in Nederland met meer dan de helft toegenomen. Anno 2007 werken 42 van de honderd personen van 55 jaar en ouder twaalf of meer uren per week, in 1996 waren dat er 26. De stijging is ook in de conjunctureel magere jaren tussen 2001 en 2005 niet tot staan gekomen. Het is dus een robuuste trend. Het is verleidelijk om deze op het conto van het gevoerde overheidsbeleid te brengen. De verhoging van de zogenaamde spilleeftijd in de regelingen voor vrijwillige vervroegde uittreding (VUT) en vervolgens de omzetting van de VUT in prepensioenregelingen, waarvoor iedere werknemer zelf moet sparen, heeft de arbeidsparticipatie in met name de categorie 55- tot 60-jarigen (waar de grootste stijging te zien is) zonder twijfel bevorderd. Ook het verscherpen van de toetredingscriteria voor de arbeidsongeschiktheidsuitkeringen heeft daarbij een belangrijke rol gespeeld.

De- and increase of the labour force as a subject of policy. Ageing-related labour market policy from an organisational perspective.

The Netherlands, like many other Western countries, are used to a long tradition of pension policies opting for 65 as the standard retirement age, but from the eighties of the last century a massive number of older workers retired early opening positions for younger workers: a replacement policy to cope with unemployment. This early retirement policy reduced the amount of workers available for the labour market, but the influence on the proportion of working and non-working people was not significant. That changed dramatically because of recent demographic developments. As a reaction to the increasing ageing of the population the government is taking several decisions which have to promote working longer. However, the impact at organisational level is modest, although many companies are concerned with new older worker policies. Recent research findings offer an overview of responsible causes: especially the role of the managers of older workers is very important. Reflecting on the status quo this contribution will finish with three possible scenario’s for the future: 1 the repression scenario, raising obstacles to hinder early retirement; 2 the seduction scenario, creating attractive conditions to work longer; 3 the differentiation scenario, meeting the age-related interpersonal differences in employment opportunities and restrictions.

Samenvatting

Employers struggling with older workers

The ageing of the Dutch work force proceeds rapidly. An increasing share of Dutch employers now has to face the consequences of an ageing staff. Many employers are not very optimistic about these consequences: they foresee increasing costs if their personnel grows older, while these increasing costs are not offset by increasing benefits. Yet, personnel policies towards older workers can be characterised as ‘accommodating’: older workers are being spared (less overtime, no nightshifts) and are being granted additional facilities (more holidays, more relaxed working hours). Only few organisations invest in older workers’ human capital. So, personnel policies actually contribute to the imbalance between costs and benefits of an ageing work force. In addition, employers do not consider older workers a key factor to combat current and future labour market shortages.

Employer policies towards older workers in practice

Political institutions and pressure groups are pleading to have employees work until the official retirement age of 65. Currently it is a huge challenge to improve development of the skills and usability of older employees while retaining their health, motivation and competences. Searching for the improvement of the participation of older workers we asked human resources (HR) officers in the Amsterdam region what images they have of the older worker and looked for policies and practices in their organizations. Current HR management and policies in organisations mainly take no notion of older employees. If they are addressed, they are often considered to be a burden for organisational growth and the focus is on exit programs. In general, managers adopt a passive and indifferent attitude towards older employees. In their recruitment practices almost no organisation (wants to) select older workers. There seems to be a difference in the approach towards older employees between profit and not for profit organisations.

De nieuwe Nederlandse regering wil dat de oudere werknemer aan het werk gaat en blijft. De mannen van Beetsterzwaag willen meer participatie. Wat dat betreft is er veel winst te boeken als meer 45-plussers deelnemen aan de arbeidsmarkt. Oudere mannen, maar vooral rijpere vrouwen laten grote gaten vallen. In die leeftijdsgroep zitten een miljoen mensen die we zomaar op de arbeidsmarkt kunnen schuiven. Dat zijn veel busjes met Polen. Maar de arbeidsmarkt is niet klaar voor de oudere werknemer. De regels moeten worden verjongd, wil de oudere meer gaan werken.

Are older workers less productive?

In the discussion on the participation of older workers, the relationship between age and performance is of relevance. This paper describes this relationship on the basis of the available literature. Furthermore, the underlying factors are considered. A theoretical model is introduced considering the underlying factors, performance and their interrelationships. The literature review yields variable results. In many studies no relationship is observed. In other studies, a parabolic pattern is observed where at increasing ages an initial increase in performance is followed by a decrease, while the age at which the performance peak occurs is highly different across the studies. From the theoretical model, one can understand the variable results on the relationship between age and performance. It also points towards several concrete directions of measures to solve any potential problems with regard to the performance of older workers.

Ageing and occupational safety

The main purpose of this article is to investigate possible effects of the ageing workforce on occupational safety in The Netherlands, in order to conclude on age-specific safety and employment policy. We used a large database with data on work accidents in 2005, worker and work characteristics and analyzed this with regression analysis. The results show that the percentage of accidents and accidents with absence from work decline with age, but that the percentage of accidents with prolonged absence from work increases with age. There are clear differences in accident risk between industrial or organizational sectors and interaction effects show differences between worker groups as well. In certain sectors and certain worker groups an increase in the accident risk has been found as a result of increasing age. Young workers are most at risk for occupational accidents. An ageing workforce will therefore have a positive effect on the accident rate in The Netherlands.

Welk verband is er tussen de participatietop van 27 juni 2007 en het bericht in De Telegraaf van zaterdag 7 juli 2007 dat er flink gesneden gaat worden in het budget van de ouderenzorg? Of met de berichten dat de thuiszorg onder druk staat, nu gemeenten met de invoering van de Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning (Wmo) verantwoordelijk zijn gemaakt voor het huishoudelijk deel van de zorg (Trouw, 9 juli)? Zo op het oog lijkt het belangrijkste verband te zijn dat het streven naar een grotere participatie niet goed samengaat met beleidsmaatregelen die tot banenverlies zullen leiden, bijvoorbeeld in de thuiszorg. Maar er is meer aan de hand.

Ageing, life cycle management and collective labour agreements

Solutions for issues with respect to ageing are often searched for in Collective Labour Agreements (CLA). This article investigates the necessary conditions for concluding arrangements for ageing in a CLA. First the influence of government on the degrees of freedom of social partners is explored from the viewpoint of institutional economics. Next, the theoretical conditions are mapped that negotiating parties in companies can develop themselves, from the perspective of transaction costs, agency or stewardship. The various approaches are illustrated with some facts about Dutch CLAs. It appears that the management of individual life cycles is more appropriate as a concept than the issue of ageing. In a survey of 564 Dutch CLAs the aspects of a life cycle approach are listed. In the discussion the limitations of the present analysis are reviewed, the conditions are summarized, possibilities for further research are indicated. The conclusion is that under certain conditions the CLA can contribute to the management of one’s life course.