It is high time to recognise the category of mature workforce on the labour market! Not only because its representatives have been present for a long time but have never been mentioned. Not only because they deserve the attention of the media, just like the new generations. The real reason is that if we do not recognise what value they have for the labour market, then companies that neglect them and do not employ them will suffer a loss. Companies won’t even look for them – but we all know the saying: ‘He that seeks, finds.’
One could also say that retirees are newcomers. In Western Europe this has been a clear line for years and there is no need to explain the value of the X and silver generation. They are looking for loyal and trustworthy 50+ people just as we are looking for twenty-year-old Insta and FB jugglers. In fact, HR managers often feel more inclined to face the difficulties and challenges of older people because they are more familiar with the problems of this age group than with the everyday problems of young adults.
Anyone who ignores the 50+ group, ignores their experiences and the broad network they have built up over the past decades. However, these are all beneficial to businesses. The good old routine is also valuable. People with twenty or thirty years of experience have seen a lot. They make fewer mistakes and are also aware that their mistakes are tolerated less than the mistakes of their younger colleagues. They are thorough, precise, which is not the same as being slow! They are great coaches because they have a good basis to question and tell stories while still eager to learn. They know that this is the key to their survival. Finally, they don’t have to stay home with their sick children. This does not mean that there are no 50+ parents with small children. But because of their knowledge and experience, they are calmer and wiser. In addition, they are more predictable, more conformist as they are used to deadlines. They are less likely to take time off, as in many cases their job is to escape the midlife crisis, the hilltop melancholy or even a critical relationship.
Numerous statistics show that the employment prospects of young people are not threatened by the continued employment of older people. But when they are no longer employed, the company will suffer material, human and emotional loss – and we could still classify it from knowledge management to mentoring. Digital skills are not equivalent to business and market experience. Therefore, the intergenerational relationship as competition must not be intensified as it is of no use to anyone. Instead, it should be developed and cultivated as a partnership with continuous work. In other words, the turning point of the trend is not to speak of Generation Z as something special or different, since the same applies to Generation X and Generation Silver. They don’t feel old and don’t want to retire – they want to stay active.
Why should they change the executive chair to the last line of the district embroidery society when they are full of energy? They see themselves in a transition age, in which the number of years can be expressed by the concept of real age, which should be treated together with the look age concept, i.e. how old the person looks. The concept of Do-Age should also be addressed. What is the person’s activity? Think of Tina Turner, the grandmother of rock… Finally, the feel of age should also be considered – how old do we feel? There are some who age, while at a class reunion other rejuvenate. There can be such big differences!
These are the present fifties – to finally say a sentence! – In terms of their livelihoods, they are usually better off than their mothers back then, and middle-aged women imagine pension years differently than they did then. For example, an increase in life expectancy can also affect the onset of self-realisation after 50. The current labour market in Europe makes it possible.
