WAKE UP THE GIANT IN YOURSELF – INNOVATIVE METHODS OF EXTENDING OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITY AMONG 50+ WORKERS Lublin March 17-20 2011 Tito Livio Mongelli.

WAKE UP THE GIANT IN YOURSELF – INNOVATIVE METHODS OF EXTENDING OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITY AMONG 50+

WORKERS

Lublin March 17-20 2011

Tito Livio Mongelli

Italy ageing problem

Causes of the problem:

1.Gradual and steady reduction in the birth rate of the population

2.General increase in life expectancy of individuals

Italy ageing problem• At the end of 2008 one in five Italians was +65• Italy has one of the lowest fertility levels in

the world: 1.33 children per woman (even lower in some regions)

• Statistics show that will lose 25% of its natural population by 2060

• The current level of official net migration (153.000 for year) is not able to achieve a reequilibrium of the age structure

Percentage of 60-year-old people and over, in Italy, 1950-2050,

(according to three foreseeing hypothesis)

10,0

15,0

20,0

25,0

30,0

35,0

40,0

45,0

50,0

BASSA 12,2 12,7 13,6 14,6 16,1 17,4 17,0 18,4 21,1 22,4 24,2 25,6 27,9 29,9 32,4 36,0 39,9 43,4 45,6 46,7 47,5

MEDIA 12,2 12,7 13,6 14,6 16,1 17,4 17,0 18,4 21,1 22,4 24,2 25,6 27,7 29,3 31,4 34,4 37,6 40,3 41,6 41,7 41,3

ALTA 12,2 12,7 13,6 14,6 16,1 17,4 17,0 18,4 21,1 22,4 24,2 25,6 27,4 28,8 30,4 32,9 35,5 37,6 38,0 37,3 36,1

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

+50 people problems in the labour market world

According to an ISFOL research (2006) the main difficulties of +50 at work are:

• Physical weariness 53.5 %• Low level of appreciation 28.8%• Difficulty in carry out work 18.1%• Intollerance toward the superior 7.2%• Marginalization by colleagues 6.0%

+50 people problems in the labour market world

+50 workers have to face two big problems:

1.Keep their job2.Replacement once they lost job

Problems at EU level

In the last 15 years European policies and strategies on adult workers changed deeply but the process is still in act.

There has been a change: from the period of premature expulsion from the labor market (‘80) to the promotion of active ageing (‘00).

Problems at EU level

The changing process interested 2 main areas of policies:

1.Social security policies2.Work policies

How to face the problem?

First of all an integrated strategy in which National governments, regional and local authorities, unions and management, employers and employees face the problem, everyone according his role, accross developing strategies for the ageing problem.

Practical strategies:

• Prevention on work problems due to the age• Focalise the attention on the entire life and all

age groups and not only on adult workers• Change negative attitudes towards age

diversity in the work places and in the society• Evaluation on strategies of age management

to evaluate the effectiveness• Ensure a global approach so that to involve all

the stakeholders

What to do?

National governments:• Finance iniciatives on active ageing• Adjust labor market and society (for example

breaking down barriers to employement age-related)

• Encourage employers to promote policies on age management

What to do?

Regional and local authorities:• Implement active ageing policies c/o local

departments• Plan information campaigns to change

negative attitudes towards age diversity• Financial (or different) support to develop

activities related to the active ageing

What to do?Social partners (trade unions and

employers associations) should use, during the collective bargaining, attitudes to promote

age management:• Dissemination examples of B.P.• Promoting the concept of age diversity• Do not negotiate agreements based on age

discrimination• Promoting an improvement of work quality

The active aging as a development policy

It is important to activate some prevention measures :

• Improvement of health• Rising rates of education• Promotion of the social value of the work• Strengthening of employment services

What can companies do?

• Invest in adult training• Utilize seniors as trainers (coaching) • Flexibility (part time, job sharing, counseling

just on some specific projects)• Precautions in the workplace• Initiatives in health and wellness

Focalise the attention on the strong points of the 50+

2 main aspects in determining the inclination of people to stay in the work market:

1.Motivation2.Working environment

Main factors related to the motivation

• Economic motivation• Health and safety• Relationships on the workplace• Appreciation by the employer• Work status• Opportunity to use their professional skills

Main factors related to the workplace

• Manageable levels of phyco/phisical stress• Organizational changes• Flexible timetable

Work conditions have to be adapted to the needs of the adult worker

Seniors strong points

• Reliability• Loyalty to the company• Respect of the hierarchies

The strong points of the Italial model:

1. Unions of retired people and their strength (FNP, etc.)

2. Associations for solidarity and volunteering (ANTEAS, AUSER, etc.)

3. Measures against discrimination (Maieuta project, etc)

4. Intergenerational solidarity (Banks of time)

Unions of retired people in Italy

There are about 17 million of retired people.

Millions of retired people chose to join an union of retired people (FNP)

Unions play an important role as social part

FNP (National Federation of retired people)

FNP is the union of retired people and elderly of CISL

It consists of 2.200.706 people in Italy and in countries of migration.

It consists of more than 140 regional and local federations.

FNP homepage

How unions of retired people play their role?

• Supporting the income of retired people• Promoting an active life (active mind, lifelong

learning)• Supporting solidarity

2 important issues about elderly people:

1. Active life and new job

2. How to be active in the future

Active life and new job

The new job is not necessarily a paid job

The importance of solidarity

How to be active in the future

In the future the number of 80+ is going to grow up.

55+ MUST BE active citizens and they have 2 possibilities:

1.They will be forced to work2.The creation of a support system in which 55+

people provide services

Services for:

• The community• The elderly

• The very old people

Associations to promote solidarity

ANTEAS: is a national solidarity association for the third age. It counts 426 associations and has 62.098 members.

Anteas has always preferred activities which would satisfy the local needs. The range of activities is widely diversified because every association has its own specific vocation.

Anteas main areas of interest are:

• Health:• meetings for prevention• food education

• Personal assistance and care:• activities of personal care and in-house assistance for persons

who are not self-sufficient• assistance for the elderly and for elderly homes• transportation of disable persons

Anteas main areas of interest are:

• Social issues:• social secretariat• hot lines for general support• libraries and museums services • care and maintenance of public parks

• Cultural and leisure activities:• University for the Third age• activities for the integration of immigrants• teaching of old crafts to the young generations• management of social centres• exhibitions and recreational activities

ANTEAS homepage

Lifelong learning and universities

UPTER (University for the third age)

Born in 1987 is today one of the most important university for the third age.

UPTER homepage

Active mind

For an active ageing it is important that intelligence and skills of the person continue to be tested so that the people’s energy do not get lost.

Lifelong learning becomes a basic element in the way that a person continues to advance, to be courius, to study, etc…

An example for an active mind: the bank of time

At its most basic level, Time banking is simply about spending a certain amount of hours doing something for someone who needs it, within your community. The time you have spent goes into the Time Bank as a Time Euro. Then you have a Time Euro to spend on having someone doing something for you. It is just a simple idea, but it may have powerful effects in building community connections.

The Bank of time visited in Rome

Bank of time (XII municipality) homepage

Bank of time of Rome homepage

Leonardo project: Maieuta

Duration: 2 years (October 2008 – October 2010)

Project promoter: UPTERPartners: Associazione Lavoro Over 40 (I), G&W

Invest Compani (I), CESPIM / CONFAPI (I), COFORA (NL), Kadis (SI)

Leonardo project: Maieuta

Aim: • To transfer VPL (Validation of Prior Learning) model

with intention to assess previously gained skills and knowledge of job seekers over 40 years of age.

• To place job seekers in the companies where they can gain new knowledge and skills.

• To create a competence profile for each job seeker• To encourage higher employability of job seekers

over 40

Leonardo project: Maieuta

Objectives:• To achieve the motivation and interest from the participants

(job seekers) about their unknown potentials which can help them enter (again) on the labour market.

• Increased productivity of the individual as a consequence of awareness and validation of individual’s skills, no matter what his/hers formal qualifications are.

• Development of the culture in the companies which tend to avoid employing people older than 40.

• Achieving a stable system of competence validation on the institutional level.

Maieuta project homepage

Welfare to work action

• Measure of replacement for managers 50+ unemployed, funded by Minister of Labour and Social Policies with 10 millions euro and realised by Italia Lavoro, in collaboration with Federmanager and Manageritalia, plan contributions to support the replacement of 50+ executives unemployed.

Welfare to work action

• The action will involve about 1.000 managers and aims to reduce manager unemployment

• The incentive is targeted to firms for the engagement of 50+ unemployed managers it is a bonus, variable according to different employment’s contracts

Welfare to work action

Beneficiaries of the incentives Ex managers that, at the time of the

employment are older than 50 years of age and that are unemployed under the current law.

Welfare to work action

The amount which will benefit employers is:• 10.000 euro for each executive employed with

permanent contracts or fixed term of at least 24 months;

• 5.000 for each executive employed with a fixed term contract of at least 12 ;

• 5.000 euro for each officer employed with a contract of project work of at least 12 months.

Minister of Labour website (welfare to work action)

What do we propose?

• Incentives for the social work of elderly• Incentives for the coaching made by the

elderly• Strong campaign of ICT and internet literacy

to foster communication among elderly and break down physical barriers that hinder elderly

•

What do we propose?

• Incentives for the placement of 50+ unemployed workers

• Campaign to support 50+ role in the society • Incentives to support 50+/60+ staying at work• Incentives to support 50+/60+ passing part-

time/teleworking/opening enterprises

Thanks for your attentionTito Livio Mongelli

titoliviomongelli@gmail.com