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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
The Management of Restructuring and Demographic Change –
Challenges for German Labor Relations
Demographic Challenges for Human Resource Management and Labor
Market
Policies-- A German-Japanese Comparison –
Tokyo, October 5-6, 2005
Matthias KnuthInstitute for Work and
Technology,Gelsenkirchen
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Outline
• structural change and labor market transitions
• early retirement – traditional mode of negotiated
redundancy
• demographic challenge: opting out of early retirement
• negotiated outplacement: the new pathway• new demands on
social actors
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Sectoral Shift of Employment, Germany 1957 – 2003
(Thousands)
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
1957
1961
1965
1969
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1992
1996
2000
services
manufacturing ,construction & mining
agriculture
unification
Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Shift of Organizational Size:Distribution of Workforce*) over
Establishment Size Categories, West Germany
22,3 22,6 24,5 24,2 25,927,5 27,3
22,1 22,1 21,9 22,323,9 24,8 24,8
24,6 24,6 24,0 24,224,6
25,1 25,3
31,0 30,6 29,7 29,325,5 22,7 22,6
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1977 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003
pe
rce
nta
ge
of t
ota
l e
mp
loym
en
t
>=500100-49920-99< 20
Source: Own calculations from employment register sample*) only
wage and salary earners subject to social security
contributions
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Entry, Exit, and Labor Turnover Rates*), West Germany, 1976 –
2000
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
36
38
1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998
2000
Tu
rno
ver
Rat
es
90
95
100
105
110
115
120
125
130
135
140
Em
plo
ymen
t Ind
ex (
1980
=100
)
employment entry rate exit rate LTR
*) only wage and salary earners subject to social security
contributions
Source: Own calculations from employment register sample
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Job Separations by Type, West Germany 1985—2001
23,7 20,2 21,6 16,311,5
17,7 20,423,2
34,5 32,7 30,6 29,9 33,5 26,021,8 20,1
27,0
36,5 40,5 38,441,5 50,2
48,6 39,941,5
36,531,5 36,0
30,033,2
39,739,8 44,9
39,9
39,8 39,3 40,0 42,2 38,333,7
39,735,3
29,035,8 33,4
40,133,3 34,3
38,4 35,033,1
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
per
cen
tag
e o
f se
par
atio
ns
dismissals quits other (e.g. end o f f ixed term)
Source: Own calculations from GSOEP
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Traditional Pathway to Early Retirement(Earliest
Possibility)
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
still employed
full pension
officially free from jobsearch obligation
unemployment benefit + compensation
short time allowance
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Legal Employment Protection
• dismissal for ‘operational reasons’ socially justifiedif in
selection for dismissal duly considered:
• tenure
• age
• obligations to support (children or other dependents)
• disability
⇒ three out of four criteria protect older workers� downsizing
following the letter of the law
⇒ older workforce than before• dismissals of certain order of
magnitude
negotiated with works council⇒ social compensation plan
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
(Dis-) Advantages of Voluntary Separations of Older Workers in
Comparison to Dismissalsfor the worker:
• higher severance payment (if offered)
• avoiding psychological hardship
• earlier retirement
for the employer:
• freedom of selection
• no risk of legal recourse• shortening of notice period
• rejuvenation of workforce
for the remaining workforce and the works council:
• higher productivity, better competitiveness, more job
security
for the general public:� more unemployment
benefits (1/3 of unemployed 50+)
� lower social security contributions
� earlier and longer pensions
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
“Window of Demographic Opportunity”
coho rt 1940 turned 60 in 2000
coho rt 1964 60 in 2024
coho rt 1945 turns 60 in 2005
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Putting the Brakes on Early Retirement
• Pension reform: pensions before 65 with 3,6% deduction per
year
• unemployment benefit reform: • maximum duration of
contribution-based benefit for older
workers 18 months (instead of 32)• payments by former employer
taken into account when
means-testing for open-ended and flat-rate follow-on benefit
• short-time allowance: maximum duration12 months (instead of
24)
• “gradual retirement” as an alternative to early retirement via
unemployment
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
The Impact of the Pension Reform
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
50-59 Jahre
60 Jahre
61 Jahre
62 Jahre
63 Jahre
64 Jahre
65 Jahre
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Population 50 – 65 by Status:1996
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
age completed
cum
ula
ted
per
cen
tag
es
gainfully employed inactive, no pension or benefitreceiving
social ass istance receiving pension
unemployed
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Population 50 – 65 by Status:2003
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
age completed
cum
ula
ted
per
cen
tag
es
gainfully employed inactive, no pension or benefit
receiving social ass istance receiving pensionunemployed
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Impact of Pension Reform plus Approach of Female Cohorts with
Higher Participation towards Ends of their Careers
• inactivity without social transfers decreasing• pensions
decreasing 58 – 62• employment increasing 50 – 64� unemployment
increasing 58 – 63 (relative
to numerically weak cohorts)
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Provisions of the Public Employment Service for the
Accompaniment of Redundancies
• subsidies for job transfer measures (2,500 Euros maximum per
worker)• profiling• outplacment training• jobsearch coaching• job
placement
• allowance for working ‘short time’ (0 hrs.) in a legally
separate ‘transfer company’
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Negotiated Redundancy:Trilateral Job Transfer Schemes
employer‘transfer company’
employee
⇑ voluntary annulment of open-endedlabour contract replaces
imminentdismissal⇒ no legal recourse possible
⇓ prolongation of employment beyondnotice period
⇓ transfer services⇓ possibly: supplement to short-time
allowance⇓ possibly: severance payment
⇑ obligation to actively participatein transfer activities
⇓ fixed-term labour contracton short-time basis
⇓ transfer services
exchange of⇒ ressources and⇐ services
framed in collective agreement between employer and works c
ouncil
subsidised by PES as ‘short time
working allowance’≈≈ unemployment
benefit not counting against eligibility
period
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
The New Outplacement Pathway forWorkers of all Ages
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
unemployment
notice period
month
profi ling, outplacement trainingjobsearch coaching, job p
lacement
new job
no n ew job
fixed-term 'employment' for up to 12 months in 'transfer
company',subsidized by short-time working compensation
vocational and outplacement training, jobsearch coaching,
internships, job placementno n ew job
new job
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Evaluation of Subisidies to ‘Transfer Measures’ 1998 – 2000
• enterprises
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
New Demands on Redundant Workers
• accept ‘real services’ as an equivalent (totally or in part)
for severance payments
• accept the ending of an employment relationship many may have
believed to be ‘for life’
• orient themselves towards new challenges and conditions
• often accept lower wages and poorer conditions
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
New Demands on Employers
• envisage and commission employment-oriented measures (possibly
in times of corporate crisis)
• pay at least 50% of costs of ‘transfer measures’+ full wages
for participation during working hours
• bear residual wage costs during short-time⇒ social insurance
contributions, full wages for bank holidays and
annual leave⇒ 35% of regular wage costs
• plus possibly negotiated supplements on top of short-time
allowances
• bear these reduced costs for periods longer than employees’
individual notice periods (up to the legal maximum of 12 months
short-time)
• pay 100% of employment assistance costs during short-time
(unless European Social Fund can be tapped)
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
New Demands on Works Councils
• defend existing jobs and simultaneously envisage transfer
assistance to new jobs⇒ at which point in the negotiating process
do you openly
switch strategy?
• give redundant workers confidence in opportunity for transfer•
‘real services’ of employment assistance more
sustainable than cash payments
• monitor quality and fairness of transfer services
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
New Demands on Trade Unions
• observe ‘critical’ corporate development in order to be
prepared for pro-active responses� often: bring first information
on the mechanisms of transfer
and of public provision to the employer
• strategic coaching of works councils• give employees
confidence in transfer provisions� accept irony of transfer to new
industries:
⇒ loss of members for TU representing old industry
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
New Demands on the Public Employment Service
• explain and implement complicated provisions in a
straightforward manner
• provide information on available provisions and providers for
employers and works councils
� win access to small enterprises in crisis where no workers’
representation exists
• win the confidence and commitment of employers and works
councils who are ‘first time users’
• monitor the quality and outcome of third party provision
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Demands on Outplacement Providers
• mediate between all the other actors• survive and maintain
professional quality in
a highly cyclical business• find jobs in the market during
recession or
stagnation• infuse optimism and can-do attitudes in
seemingly hopeless situations
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Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie Institut Arbeit
und Technik
Summary
• remarkable structural change effected without much increase in
labor market mobility
• early retirement important buffer but not sustainable under
demographic change
• reforms of the retirement system show effects• job transfer
(assisted mobility) intended to replace
early retirement• difficult task in generally depressed labor
marketB turn-around of employment patterns and
retirement orientations indispensable before baby-boomers arrive
at the critical pre-retirement age in about 10 years