Young People and the Labour Market (original) (raw)
2015
Although employment participation of older workers and their timing of (early) retirement is often modelled as an individual-level decision, the opportunities for late career employment, and restrictions that older workers potentially face, are largely shaped by labour market contextual factors. These may include labour market regulations and policies, attitudes of employers, as well as other dynamics between employers and employees and/or their associations. Much of the research in this field focuses on the supply side of the labour market. That is, when and why older workers want to continue working, and what the effects of policy changes are on the supply side. Although growing in importance, there is less understanding of how employers' attitudes and behaviour affect employment participation rates of older workers. ↘ Older workers are less likely to lose their job than younger workers, but when they do, they are much less likely to find reemployment. When they do find reemployment, they are often faced with wage cuts. Some older workers move from unemployment into self-employment. ↘ Employers in countries with strong deferred compensation schemes, e.g. steep wage-tenure profiles or increasing wages with seniority, are less likely to hire older workers than employers in countries with more equal compensation schemes. ↘ Many companies employ, but do not hire older workers. That is, they hire them when they are young and employ them into old age, but they are much less likely to hire older workers out of the labour market. ↘ The opportunities for older workers to work past normal retirement age are very limited. Many countries do not have explicit policies for this, and employers appear very reluctant to offer these opportunities to older workers that wish to continue working. ↘ Self-employment is quite common among older workers. However, there are different reasons why people move into self-employment. Some choose this form of employment because they would like to remain active, possibly working part-time, after their career job. Meanwhile others move into self-employment because they cannot find employment with a decent income. ↘ Planned migration of older workers, e.g. to Southern Europe, or migration of immigrants back to their countries of origin can affect the timing of retirement and the transition into self-employment or bridge jobs. ↘ Early retirement provisions significantly shortened the employment participation of older workers in the past. Not only those wishing to retire early could afford to do so, also many of those with the intention to remain in the labour force could be pressured to leave by their employers. ↘ Most countries have, by now, implemented policies that largely discourage or prevent early retirement. In addition, most "alternative pathways" to early retirement, often covered by disability insurance funds or unemployment benefits, have been largely closed. This has effectively risen the retirement age in most countries. ↘ Given that the labour market is so complex, many of the studies have a rather limited focus, and often do The full version of this report is available on the project's website at: → www.jp-demographic.eu/about/fast-track-projects/ understanding-employment This report is published as part of: → Hasselhorn HM, Apt W (2015) Understanding employment participation of older workers: Creating a knowledge base for future labour market challenges. Research Report.
Participation in the Labour Market - Generation Y and Other Age Groups
Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2014
The objective of the Europe 2020 strategy is to achieve the employment rate in 2020 on level of 75% for the European Union. Strategic objectives for the Member States are different. In Poland in 2020, the employment rate should reach 71%. Employment rates differs depending on age groups, gender and country in which it is measured. There are also many factors that mobilizing generations to maintain employment. These factors determine the level of employment rate. They also cause that determination of the participation of social groups in the labour market is a multi-dimensional task. The aim of the study is to examine the labour market participation of people from generation Y in comparisons to other age groups. People in this age group are guided by other values in lifestyle than older people. To achieve the objectives of the study were used statistical analysis methods adequate to the scale of measurement of factors observed on the labour market.
Iza Research Reports, 2013
This study provides an overview of the employment situation of young and old workers in the EU Member States, setting out the most recent developments during the crisis and dealing with policies implemented to promote the employment of both groups. The evidence collected shows that there is no competition between young and older workers on the labour market. Structural or general policies to enhance the functioning of EU labour markets are crucial to improving the situation of both groups. However, the responsibility for employment policies still predominantly lies within Member States of the European Union, although initiatives taken at the EU level can provide added value, particularly through stimulating the exchange of experiences and facilitating regional and cross-border mobility throughout the EU.
From young workers to older workers
Belvedere Meridionale, 2016
Since 2000 we have been undertaking a detailed re-study of Norbert Elias's lost Adjustment of Young Workers to Work Situations and Adult Roles project from 1962-1964. Our interest in this project began over ten years ago when we rediscovered 850 interview schedules that had, since the late 1960s, simply been left in an attic offi ce. Led by Elias, the project team interviewed nearly 1000 young people in Leicester, UK exploring every aspect of this cohort of young peoples' lives. What the researchers produced were detailed interview schedules that richly documented the experience of leaving school in the 1960s. From the outset it was clear to us that these interview schedules, left largely unused for over forty years, represented an extraordinary opportunity to both revisit the transitional experiences of these young workers and to retrace some of the original respondents to explore their subsequent lives and careers. As Laub and Sampson (2003: 302) suggest, this data aff orded us a fantastic, if very rare, opportunity to 'examine within-individual variability over nearly the entire life course'. We have two main aims for this paper. First, we provide an overview of the original 1960s phase of the research and outline Elias's theory of 'transition'. In his lost writings on youth, Elias argued that the transition to work requires the young person to become 'civilized', learning adult behavioural standards as well as job related skills. Yet inevitably, according to Elias, diffi culties arise in the transition process as the 'norms' of working adults diff er considerably to those adults the young people are already familiar with. Second, following on from our re-interviews with a sub-sample of the original 1960s respondents, we examine the extent to which the initial predictions for this group actually came true in terms of their early transitional experiences. Th ese interviews reveal that their work histories did not follow exactly the linear and smooth trajectories predicted for them. Instead, careers were characterised by greater levels of individual complexity, insecurity, multiple 'transitions' and 'critical moments' that could not be fully explained by family background, social class or education. We conclude by refl ecting on the implications these two for contemporary research on the transition from education to work and by highlighting Elias's legacy in this area.