Eurofound Seminars Focus on Working Conditions for Older Workers

Eurofound held its 8th edition of the Foundation Seminar Series (FSS) in Rome in late May. Among the issues on the agenda were working conditions of older workers; national, regional and sectoral initiatives for active ageing; and best practice in companies.

Following are links to the presentations:

Programme:

• Final programme [.pdf, 206kb]

Presentations:

DAY 1 - Monday 28 May 2012

• Maurizio Curtarelli & Oscar Vargas - Working conditions of older workers in Europe: Highlights [.pdf, 1.7mb]
• Marco Centra & Pietro Checcucci - Demographic trends, older workers and active ageing in Italy [.pdf, 500kb]
• Roberto Angotti - Learning, supporting active ageing. Evidence from Eurostat and Isfol - INDACO surveys [.pdf, 534kb]
• Country profile: Italy [.pdf, 536kb]
• Mario Zambelli - Company case Politecnico Calzaturiero 'Flexibly beyond' [.pdf, 805kb]
• Mario Zambelli - Company profile Politecnico Calzaturiero [.pdf, 1.1mb]

DAY 2 - Tuesday 29 May 2012

• Country profiles: Austria [.pdf, 300kb], Belgium [.pdf, 100kb],Slovenia [.pdf, 832kb], Portugal [.pdf, 833kb], Estonia [.pdf, 636kb],Finland [.pdf, 210kb], Ireland [.pdf, 170kb], Romania [.pdf, 508kb],Hungary [.pdf, 424kb], Latvia [.pdf, 1.4mb], Luxembourg [.pdf, 362kb], Serbia [.pdf, 655kb]
• Gabriella Bettiol - Industrial change, retirement reform, innovative business: impact on active ageing management [.pdf, 1.2mb]
• Riccardo Viaggi - The under construction 3 project: A European sectorial social dialogue approach to active ageing [.pdf, 422kb]
• Wilma Butterworth & Pamela Houghton - Positive about older workers [.pdf, 730kb]
• Carmel Schuler - Productive ageing [.pdf, 723kb]
• Bridie Horan - 'Options for me programme': promoting equal opportunities for older workers at Tallaght hospital [.pdf, 484kb]
• Dieter Doetsch - Training 50+ with ING-DiBa [.pdf, 880kb]
• Serena Zottino - Skills development in high-level older employees [.pdf, 378kb]

DAY 3 - Wednesday 30 May 2012

• Anne-Marie Guillemard - Developing solidarity and cooperation amongst the various age groups in the workplace for an active and productive ageing workforce [.pdf, 723kb]

Source: Eurofound (June 5, 2012)

Research Study Finds Disparity Between Effects of Arthritis on Blue Collar and White Collar Older Workers

White-collar workers have a higher overall health-related quality of life than do other workers, and suffer fewer quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost to arthritis at all ages, according to research published in the September 2012 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Thus, for example, while 65-year-old white-collar workers without arthritis look forward to 17 QALYs of future life, blue-collar workers with arthritis experience only 11, and are much less likely to remain in the workforce than are those in service, farming, or white-collar jobs.

In "Arthritis, Occupational Class, and the Aging US Workforce," Alberto Cabán-Martinez, DO, at the time of the study a professor in the department of epidemiology and public health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, and the other authors note that this is a signficant workplace issue because it is often the lower-income individuals who, for financial reasons, need to remain in the workforce longer, despite greater health problems than white-collar workers. Among other things, the research found that, in workers aged 65 and older, approximately 67% of farmers, 58% of those in service, 51% in white-collar occupations, and 47% of those in blue-collar jobs had arthritis.

Dr. Cabán-Martinez says it is important to use studies like this to reinforce the need for workforce change. The authors suggest improving disability and unemployment insurance and arthritis health promotion interventions.

He suggests using ergonomic interventions, or changing the workflow or duties to allow people to remain productive longer. For instance, a nurse or police officer could be reassigned from patient handling or street patrol to perform administrative duties. “Wal-Mart might have an elderly greeter at the door instead of at a labor-intensive job so it is not so burdensome on the joints and body,” he says.

Source: Arthritis Today"Arthritis Hits Blue-collar Workers Harder" (August 12, 2011)

Study: Older Workers Deal with Stress Better

A researcher at the University of Manchester Business School says that her research is finding that older workers are better at coping with emotional stress and burnout than their younger colleagues. According to Dr. Sheena Johnson, this is particularly the case in customer service industries, where employees often face high levels of conflict and stress, and older workers find their roles less emotionally draining and have less cynical attitudes towards customers than younger employees.

According to Dr. Johnson:

As life expectancy and the average age of the population increases, the age of the working population rises - it’s vital employers understand how they can benefit from employing older workers. For instance encouraging older workers to act as mentors could significantly improve emotional burnout and stress with younger members of a team.

Source: University of Manchester Business School News Release (February 7, 2011)

Other References: An older book with a contribution by Dr. Johnson:

Study: Many Older Workers in Difficult or Physically Demanding Jobs Could Lose Out if Retirement Age Increases

The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) has published a study that demonstrates that a large number of U.S. workers--in particular, those in physically demanding jobs or jobs with difficult work conditions--would be adversely affected by raising the normal retirement age for Social Security. In "Hard Work? Patterns in Physically Demanding Labor Among Older Workers", researcher Hye Jin Rho found that, in 2009, 45% of workers age 58 and older had physically demanding jobs or jobs with difficult working conditions and that, among other things, these were disproportionately held by less educated, poorer, and minority workers.

The study reports that, among other things:

• difficult jobs were held by 62.4% of Latino workers, 53.2% of black workers, 50.5% of Asian Pacific American workers, and 42.6% percent of white workers.
  
• older workers with less than a high school diploma had the highest share of workers (77.2%) in difficult jobs.
  
• 56.4% of older workers in the bottom wage quintile had physically demanding jobs compared to only about 17% of those in the top quintile.
  
• 63.3% of older workers in the bottom wage quintile had difficult jobs compared to only about 25% of those in the top quintile.

According to Rho, "Many older workers are in jobs that require substantial physical effort, jobs that may not afford them the option of working into their 70s in order to get full retirement benefits."

Source: Center for Economic and Policy Research News Release (August 5, 2010)

Additional Resource: New York Times "Retiring Later Is Hard Road for Laborers" (September 12, 2010)

Europe: Eurofound Report Examines Key Factors to Age and Working Conditions

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) has published a report highlighting four factors that are key to shaping the age structure of Europe’s workforce: ensuring career and employment security; maintaining and promoting the health and well-being of workers; developing skills and competencies; and reconciling working and non-working life. The report--"Working conditions of an ageing workforce" was authored by Claudia Villosio, with Dario Di Pierro, Alessandro Giordanengo, Paolo Pasqua and Matteo Richiardi, of theLABORatorio Riccardo Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies in Italy.

The reports findings show that improving working conditions leads to better job sustainability over the lifecycle, which in turn can prevent early exit from the labor market and encourage stronger participation rates among older workers. The analysis is based on findings from the fourth European Working Conditions Survey carried out in 31 countries, including the 27 EU Member States.

The report reveals how age is an important factor in describing working conditions and that significant differences emerge between younger and older workers. For instance, compared with younger workers, older workers are less exposed to physical risks in the working environment and enjoy a higher degree of autonomy in the workplace and a lower degree of work intensity. However, they have fewer opportunities with respect to involvement in new organisational forms, training and learning new things at work. Young and older workers both share a higher probability of being subjected to acts of discrimination at the workplace and, to a lesser extent, of experiencing difficulties in accessing IT. For their part, middle-aged workers carry a heavier burden in relation to caring activities outside of work, as well as reporting a lower level of satisfaction with work–life balance.

Source: Eurofound Publication Notice (May 6, 2008)