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Developing the silver economy and managing the ageing workforce

CHAPTER 5 GUIDELINES FOR LOCAL MANAGEMENT OF DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONS IN

5.3.4 Developing the silver economy and managing the ageing workforce

According to INTERREG IVC and European Union, (2012), over “… the next 20 years, the ageing process in Europe will speed up considerably. … The share of the old population in the overall population will increase … from 17.4% to 23.6%” (p.10). Population ageing is a demographic phenomenon that is occurring across Poland. The impact of this demographic change is significant, not only on the national economy, but also on the regional and local economies. Again, policy focus is required, providing strategies, programmes, initiatives, and funding to manage this change, and to promote and encompass the opportunities that the ageing population provides.

The CEDEFOP (2012) report stresses the need to tackle the challenges associated with an ageing workforce and make use of new opportunities. The report states that actions from stakeholders on all levels are required, including enterprises. Reversing the negative stereotyping, encouraging investment in the ageing workforce, for example in workplace design and management concepts, or promoting lifelong

learning for ageing workers, is not only needed, but is also essential for maintaining a sustainable labour force in the future. The CEDEFOP (2012, p.313) report highlights three policy implications:

1. Policies and actions can stimulate learning not only by providing incentives, but also by addressing barriers and by strengthening factors that support learning.

2. Lifelong learning policies that target enterprises; these could be made more effective if more attention was paid to the development of demographic literacy in firms to enable them to take action and develop or expand age-aware human resource systems on the basis of solid evidence. 3. Stimulating research on ageing that takes a multi- and interdisciplinary perspective that has strong

ties to practitioners in the human resources field.

According to an OECD (2012b) report, a key priority of OECD countries is to encourage work at an older age, and should be a key policy agenda “…to pay particular attention to demand-side issues and appropriate measures to strengthen employability of older workers …more focus should be given to improving the demand for older workers and on facilitating greater labour mobility as a way of promoting employment at an older age” (p.34).

In managing population ageing, regional authorities need to be aware that the ageing population is negatively correlated with the growth of GDP, as it raises the dependency ratio, health, pension and age- care costs. Systemic and sustainable ageing policy, simultaneously conducted on all administrative levels of governance: national, regional and local; is needed in order to implement measures focused on addressing needs caused by the current and future population ageing process, in two significant areas: ageing support and the ageing workforce.

Ageing support:

• Prepare a long-term care system for the ageing population, not only finding new ways of securing finance for elderly care services, but also supporting family carers, particularly those who are working.

• National and long-term partnership projects focused on age management strategies, connected with a widespread promotional campaign.

• Promote the importance of the role of NGOs within regional and local society and, especially as the population ages, maintain and increase funding and support of NGOs and create a network for information/knowledge sharing between NGOs.

• Develop institutional forms of care for the elderly, including development of the social economy sector and institutional support of volunteering.

• Continued support for UTAs and creation of a knowledge network to share initiatives and programmes across the country. This network will need to be supported by funding and resources in order to enable successful implementation.

• The need to extend the period of independent living for the elderly, to encourage development of the silver economy Measures include:

o independent dwelling (support for cleaning, shopping and care services), which requires policy support for the development of services (both private and public) and support for accessibility (cost support for the elderly),

o training in use of the high-tech household equipment (encouraging and supporting civil society in developing programmes/initiatives);

o organising transport services friendly to elderly people (enabling accessibility, low cost transport);

o smart homes services (apartments and homes equipped with electronic equipment enabling longer and more independent autonomy).

As identified by the DART project, there are entrepreneurship and business opportunities in the development of products and services for elderly people (silver economy). According to DART, “...more efforts and resources should be allocated to investigate undiscovered potential and to concretise opportunities of the silver economy” (INTERREG IVC and European Union, 2012, p. 29). The development of the silver economy should be supported primarily through public funds, including the ESF. The ESF funds may be used to provide the know-how and/or start-up funds supporting entrepreneurs and the self-employed that are ready to settle their businesses within the silver economy field of activity.

Ageing workforce:

• Erosion of the mental barriers among different social groups and institutions through information related to a change of thinking about old age and stereotypes associated with it. • Programmes and initiatives to extend the working activity of individuals, targeting both

employees (skills and competency training) and employers (age management tools and training).

• Further education, persistent training, life-long learning, and acquisition of skills in the labour market for the needs of the silver and white economy.

• Supporting entrepreneurship of people aged 45+, who have problems finding a job or want to find an additional source of income while retired: through the creation of local incubators (including social enterprises and other subjects of social economy); and selective support for innovators; rewarding social innovation in the operational programmes co-financed with the ESF.

• There is a need for funding of a mentoring system of the “student-master” type within enterprises (taking into account industrial and sector specific requirements), which functioned in Poland in the past as informal co-operation. Currently, this type of working method does not exist and is not supported in a systematic way. For this purpose, it would be appropriate to finance semi-year internships and vouchers for the elderly in retirement age (55 +).

• Entering the funding mechanisms, such as tax reductions and exemptions for employers, related to reduction of costs for older workers.

• Realisation of partnerships projects among self-governments, social partners and NGOs on the implementation of prophylaxis in workplaces (funding prevention tests and health care measures) and in socio-cultural initiatives (e.g. organisation of "white Sundays" and promotion of healthy lifestyles and the idea of healthy and active ageing).

• Informational and promotional operations about specific “flexible work forms”, e.g. "job- sharing", "job-rotation"; presenting their advantages, such as:

o providing employment for the elderly / young / threatened by social exclusion / marginalised in the labour market;

o creating conditions for intergenerational co-operation by employers, by allowing the exchange of experience and knowledge among the different age groups of workers;

o ensuring supportive conditions exist for staff responsible for caring for dependent persons (taking into account the relevant type of employment), including providing care support for children, the elderly, chronically ill, and disabled persons.