Prof. Dr. Gerhard Naegele Technical University of Dortmund/Institute of Gerontology

Transcription

1 Prof. Dr. Gerhard Naegele Technical University of Dortmund/Institute of Gerontology Creating the right work place conditions for people working longer Interactions of pension and work place factors in Germany Workshop on delivering longer working lives and higher retirement ages Organised by the European commission and the OECD Brussels, November

2 Introduction Since the beginning of the new century there has been a remarkable increase in the official employment rate of older workers There are different explanations which in practice act together: financial incentives, changed and/or improved employability of the older workers (cohort effects), improved working conditions and more corporate age management The following groups show distinctive higher employment rates: Higher qualified (mainly male) workers (among them primarily members of white collar occupational groups) Self-employed (among them primarily those with an academic background) 2

3 Employment rates Germany Employment Rate 2000 and 2011 (Age and Gender) Institut für Gerontologie an der TU Dortmund Male Female Age Source: Federal Statistical Office; calculations: BiB 3

4 Labour force participation of older workers to to Total 2002 Total 2012 Male 2002 Male 2012 Female 2002 Female 2012 Source: own diagram based on Mikrozensus. For 2002: Results of reference week april; for 2012: annual average 4

5 Male Employment Rates and formal educational status Age: 55 to 59 Formal Education: ISCED Source: own diagram, Eurostat Male Less than primary, primary and lower secondary (ISCED levels 0-2) Male Upper secondary and postsecondary non-tertiary (ISCED levels 3 and 4) Male Short-cycle tertiary, bachelor or equivalent, master or equivalent and doctoral or equivalent (ISCED levels 5-8) 5

6 Major pathways into retirement Germany Institut für Gerontologie an der TU Dortmund Paid work during the whole working life until reaching the legal retirement age (65) Paid work until early retirement (before 65) Unemployment before entering retirement (between 60 and 63) Early retirement due to disability (mainly before 60) Inactivity before entering legal retirement (65) (mostly housewives) Paid work in the last years before retirement (between 58 and 65) 6

7 Conceptionalisation of retirement in Germany In the past in Germany the socio-political discussions about retirement were mainly led by economists and pension/labour market experts Consequently, retirement-age has primarily been treated from both an economic view as well as from the perspective to regulate the budgets of the social security systems (particularly public pension) This approach mirrors a narrow understanding of retirement Socio gerontologists favour an interdisciplinary approach looking behind the contextual framework conditions and asking for push and pull factors particularly concerning the working or private living conditions of the retiring people/retirees 7

8 Retirement in the view of key actor groups (1) Policy makers, retirement as Instrument to regulate labour markets Instrument to shape the generational contract Instrument to regulate social security expenditures Economy/corporations, retirement as Instrument to regulate manpower/to cut back on jobs Point of reference for own in-company retirement-ages Instrument to regulate personnel costs 8

9 Retirement in the view of key actor groups (2) Trade unions, retirement as Guarantee of a (social) income free from paid work Instrument to humanise labor world Older workers, retirement as Structural and expected event in a normal working life-course Retirement is changing the social status ( status passage ) Point of reference for further planning of individual life courses ( late freedom ; Rosenmayr) Beginning of a ( well earned ) phase of life with less obligations No more need to work for money in order to reach one`s own self subsistence Retirement as a critical life event and as a developmental task 9

10 Key actor groups and strategies in Germany`s retirement and older worker policies National/ Federal/state policies Individual strategies Policy fields and main groups of actors Corporate measures Social partners activities 10

11 National policies (1) Institut für Gerontologie an der TU Dortmund Closing respectively impeding early retirement exit routes Impeding the access to invalidity pensions (1996, 2001) Reduction of early-invalid pensions through actuarial cuts (2007) Stop of the partial retirement scheme Labour market approaches (among others): Legally opposing age discrimination in employment (2006) Reduction of unemployment benefits (2005) Activating and supportive/counselling programmes for older job seekers Wage-subsidies Awareness campaigns favouring older job seekers/workers Promoting further vocational training 11

12 National policies (2) Institut für Gerontologie an der TU Dortmund Postponing official retirement age ( Rente mit 67 ) (2007) Increasing of the legal retirement age from 65 to 67 This happens gradually one month per year and later two months until 2029 (see slide 14) Early retirement still possible however pension cuttings (actuarial cuts by 0.3 % per month retiring earlier) to be accepted Softening the Rente mit 67 by introducing a new Rente mit 63 for long-term insured (July 2014) Employees with a contribution period of 45 years allowed to draw pensions at the age of 63 without any reductions 12

13 Indexing retirement age in line with further life expectancy? Institut für Gerontologie an der TU Dortmund Life-expectancy indexed retirement policies definitely would lead to a further deepening in retirement-related social inequalities taking into account that both the rising further-life expectancy as well as the gained years in good health is not at all true for members of the lower social classes In consequence lower social class members would be discriminated threefold: (1) eventually even less years in work through the need to to retire earlier (2) thus even more pension deductions and lower standard of living although (3) their pension contributions in former (shorter) active working life in a pay-as-go-system helps the winners from the higher socioeconomic groups to realise an even more a higher standard of living 13

14 Affected cohorts by Rente mit 67 Source: Own presentation (Data taken from: R+V Versicherung (2014). Altersvorsorge. Gesetzliche Rente. URL: (Last access: 17/10/2014) 14

15 The role of the trade unions needed a much longer time in accepting the shift of paradigm Many leading trade unionists still oppose Rente mit 67 Many leading trade unionists supported Rente mit 63 for long-term insured One of the recently introduced union-initiatives is the attempt to promote employment prospects by collective bargaining of demographic change, e.g. in the chemical Industry, the Iron and Steel Industry or Deutsche Bahn (Railroad) The issue of social inequality arises since collective agreements only cover certain sectors of industry and very often do not reach small and medium sized companies 15

16 The role of employers Institut für Gerontologie an der TU Dortmund Until turn of the century primarily favouring early retirement Today a more positive perception of age as factor of production Still no recognition of older workers as valuable resource to increase labour supply across the country Mainly business reasons for introducing corporate age management Distribution of age management mirrors new social inequalities So far only a small number of older workers is profiting Research confirms the productive function of age management 16

17 Collective agreement on demographic change in the Iron and Steel Industry (2012) Aims Create age oriented working conditions Promote health and well-being of employees Support and improve employability Provide options for early exit and/or a smooth transition to retirement Rejuvenate the workforce Measures/Instruments Obligatory analysis of age structure (in cooperation with works council) Implement respective measures (e.g. health promotion, training, peak load reduction, age mixed teams, organisation of working time, redeployment) Initiative for early exit/smooth transition to retirement Fund Demographic change Evaluation 17

18 Organisational drivers of age management Organizational demography Labor market Legislation Collective agreements Retention of knowledge Maintenance of workers productivity and innovativeness Decrease in labor supply Ageing of labor force Pension reforms Labor market reforms Antidiscrimination legislation Collective agreements on working time and lifelong learning Collective agreement on demographic change in the German iron and steel industry 18

19 Dimensions of age management Institut für Gerontologie an der TU Dortmund Recruitment Lifelong learning Career development Transition to retirement Age Management Knowledge management Health Organisation of working time Leadership promotion, ergonomics and job design 19

20 Corporate age-management measures to preserve workability of older workers from business and employee s perspective... is practiced in. % of the company... is desired by. % of older workers Special training programs for older EE 13,5 69,6 Age diverse teams 69,5 79,9 Involvement in further training 58,3 81,5 In-house job-rotation 34,1 34,9 Assignment as coach, trainer, consultant 37,2 65,9 Part-time models 57 61,4 Selective assignment of older employees in development projects and improvements 20,6 73,9 Reduction of labour requirements 22,6 64,2 Ergonomic design of the work environment 37,7 84,2 Offers of health care 40,5 79,1 Lifetime working accounts 17,0 73,5 20

21 Self-assessment of older workers in terms of working longer, depending on the number of age management measures provided "Sind Sie der Meinung, dass Sie Ihre jetzige Tätigkeit noch bis zur Erreichung Ihres regulären Renten-/Pensionsalters ausüben können?" Antworten in Abhängigkeit von der Anzahl Age Manag Maßnahmen [% ] Yes Ja 7 und mehr Yes, but only by adapting job demands and working conditions or more Ja, aber nur unter Anpassung der Arbeitsbedingungen und Anforderungen Carolin Eitner & Gerhard Naegele Melbourne, Age Age Management Management measures Maßnahmen 9 No nein 21 Source: GfK/RSBC/FfG; n= 3.107

22 House of the work ability Institut für Gerontologie an der TU Dortmund 22

23 BMW Group Today for tomorrow BMW launched the programme Today for Tomorrow, a holistic and cross-cutting approach A production plant in Dingolfing was staffed with 2017 age structure and specifically unemployed older job seekers were targeted Source::BMW Group,

24 Source::BMW Group,

25 Older workers - the prime key-actor group (2) Many positive cohort effects favour older workers However differentiation of old age also is true for older workers Differentiations after problem-groups and disadvantages necessary A life-course perspective is necessary Socio gerontologists recommend workability and employability as points of departure for measures aiming at prolonging working 25

26 Older workers - the prime key-actor group (1) Germany`s aging workers of today expect to need to work longer but do not want only about half of them is optimistic to do so are more prepared to invest into their own employability have clear ideas which support is needed to work longer regard the employers as primarily responsible to help them doing so regard job satisfaction of one of the major drivers to work longer focus increasingly the individual work-life-balance (particularly women) regard family biography and generational relations and obligations as important only a small proportion would like to work longer (after official retirement age), mainly due to intrinsic reasons, less to financial reasons 26

27 Evaluations of the preconditions to work until the new legal retirement age as seen by women affected by Rente mit 67 Very negative 12% Very positive 12% Rather negative 30% Rather positive 46% 27

28 Evaluations of the preconditions to work until the new legal retirement age (differentiated according to status) Total White-collar Blue-collar Very negative 12% 10% 17% Rather negative 30% 28% 34% Rather positive 39% 45% 48% Very positive 12% 14% 9% 28

29 Problems anticipated to work longer Health preconditions 43% Working conditions 27% Personal or family circumstances 16% qualification 13% 29

30 Prerequisites for working longer as seen by women affected by Rente mit 67 Reduced burdens at work 54% Work-life balance 46% Stronger appreciation of work performance 37% Further training 36% Working time adjustments 35% Working place adjustments 27% Name Autor Ort und Datum 30

31 Source: Own presentation. (Data taken from: Die Welt(2013). GFK-Umfrage. Jeder zweite Deutsche will vor 60 in Rente gehen. URL: (Last access: )) 31

32 What is a lifecycle oriented personnel policy? What is needed is a personnel policy not at all (or no longer) oriented on (partly internal corporate) age images, one which no longer practices categorizing and stereotyping based on the calendar, but is lifecycle oriented instead ( lifecycle oriented personnel policy ). The promotion of older workers continuing in employment should no longer be effected exclusively by targeted measures for older workers that is, no explicit policy concerning older workers but instead through a totally different view of employment biographies. Source: 6 th Federal report on senior citizens in Germany

33 Thank you for your attention! Prof. Dr. Gerhard Naegele Institute of Gerontology at the TU Dortmund University Evinger Platz Dortmund Phone: +49 (0) Fax: +49 (0) orka@post.uni-dortmund.de URL: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Naegele Dublin 02./