Hire senior talents successfully

In the next few years, the proportion of pensioners in the total population will increase significantly, while the proportion of those under 20 will remain relatively constant. As a result of this development, up to half a million workers are likely to be missing from the Swiss labor market as early as 2030. 

Better use of the workforce potential of the 50+ age group could help. Today, an additional workforce of 230,000 people is slumbering in it. 

 

This includes the unemployed, underemployed and the hidden reserve. They all want to work or increase their workload. However, the additional potential is even greater among 50 to 64-year-olds who are already in the labor market but would like to continue working beyond the official retirement age. According to a representative survey by Deloitte Switzerland, 580,000 people would like this, which corresponds to 40% of all employed persons aged between 50 and 64. 35% want to continue working part-time, 5% full-time.

The automatism in people's minds set by the fixed retirement age, the limited offers for continued employment in companies, but also false financial incentives mean that today no longer employed people continue to work beyond retirement age, although they would actually like to.

 

How can Switzerland better exploit the potential of older workers?

What can companies do?

1) Integration into corporate strategy

The first step is to prioritize the topic. Only those who anchor the integration and continued employment of older people in the overarching corporate strategy and make it a top priority will be able to fully exploit the workforce potential. It is crucial that the importance of the topic is recognized from the very top and strategically anchored. This is the only way to integrate it into all relevant company processes. The strategic anchoring of better integration and continued employment of older employees must be tied to clear key figures. If a company sets specific goals and defines, for example, the proportion of people it wants to keep after retirement, it can also be measured against them. As a result, those responsible receive targeted incentives to promote the topic. Something similar is already being implemented in other areas under the concept of diversity.

 

2) Cultural change through the involvement of executives

In addition to the strategic anchoring, a fundamental adjustment of the corporate culture and the mindset of the managers is also necessary. There is still a widespread view that employing older employees mainly has disadvantages, as they are expensive and less efficient than younger ones. If such prejudices are widespread, for example among superiors, but also in HR departments, older employees are hardly ever encouraged to work longer hours. Likewise, older people are unlikely to be hired when such prejudices prevail among those making the hiring decisions. As a study by Deloitte shows, a third of the managers and HR managers surveyed in Switzerland perceive older employees as a competitive disadvantage. At the same time, there are no research results that prove a difference in performance between the generations.

It is therefore crucial that all superiors and HR managers are made aware of this and that the advantages of older employees, such as work expertise, are brought to the fore.

This culture change must be proactively promoted. It is not enough to just inform the managers about it. Comprehensive change management is necessary. Managers must be accompanied and trained accordingly so that the culture change can be brought about.

 

3) Strategic workforce planning

As soon as the topic has been firmly anchored strategically and a cultural change has been initiated, strategic personnel planning is necessary. In order for companies to be able to optimally exploit the potential of older employees, a clear interpretation of all available data is necessary - a company must know exactly the age and educational structure of the workforce. It must be clear in which departments and areas there will be a shortage of workers in the future and where and how much additional potential there is from older people who would like to work longer.

The same applies to competencies. A company should know exactly which competencies its employees have, which ones will be needed in the future and with which further training measures these can be achieved. It is helpful to carry out a systematic competence analysis. It is important that the individual superiors are involved in strategic personnel planning. They are often in a better position to assess what future skills and manpower will be needed. The implementation of this strategy must also be included in continuous site discussions between superiors and company management.

 

4) Implementation of concrete measures

Once the strategic foundations have been laid and the cultural change initiated, companies should, as a fourth step, consider specific individual measures that can help keep older employees in work longer. Below is a selection of important measures:

  • Adaptation of working models
  • Customization of work content
  • Adjustment of employment relationships
  • Formation of intergenerational teams
  • Maintaining employability
  • Investment in health management

 

5) Regular dialogue at employee level

If the topic has been approached strategically and specific measures have been implemented, the fifth step is to seek dialogue with each individual employee. The intentions and wishes of both the employees and the company can be identified by means of regular site discussions. In this way, the length of work and retirement wishes can be discussed openly and, ideally, mutually preferred solutions can be found so that employees can work longer. The focus of these location discussions must therefore be the further development and future intentions of the employee.

 
What can the state do?

Improvement of the framework conditions:

  • Abolition of the automatism by making the retirement age more flexible
  • Adjustment of retirement age to life expectancy
  • Improving incentives to work longer
  • Smoothing of BVG contributions graded according to age
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