European Policy Analysis Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2016 | Page 87
European Policy Analysis
100%
Not at all important
80%
Not very important
60%
40%
Fairly important
20%
Very important
0%
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
LT
LT
LV
LV
EE
EE
HU
HU
PL
PL
SK
SK
CZ
CZ
SI
SI
BG
BG
RO
RO
Figure 12. Respondents who like (yes) and who don’t like (no) to work after pension
entitlement by the variable “aged 55+ stop working: exclusion from training” (%, Eurobarometer 76.2).
With regard to the structural changes as
well due to the process of technological
change (including the transfer of
technologies between countries and
regions) (Cörvers and Meriküll 2007),
the need for more qualified labor force
is envisaged in the nearest future—both
in Western and in Central and Eastern
Europe. As CEEDEFOP (2010) indicates,
most countries will show a significant
reduction of the share of low-qualified
people in the labor force. It is also predicted
that most countries will reduce the overall
share of low-skilled people mainly as a
result of the age cohort effect.
The recent crisis also influenced the
growing labor productivity and declining
employment in manufacturing, especially
in Hungary, Romania, and the Baltic
states (Havlik 2014). This explained how
exclusion from training/retraining can
prevent a large share of low and medium
skilled employed population from the
participation in the labor market.
While talking about aging
workforce, the job place adjustment
appears as one of the solutions for the
prolongation of working life of older
employees. However, as data from
Eurobarometer (76.2) show, generally the
importance of the job place being adapted
to the needs of aging employees seems less
important than training opportunities.
In addition to this, the respondents from
analyzed countries have a different view
on the opportunities led by the adjusted
job places. Hungarians are much more
concerned about how their jobs are adapted
(43% chose the answer “very important” in
comparison with average 24%). It can be
related to the demand to continue to work
after retirement and the lack of flexible
employment in this country. So, the job
adaptation could compensate the lack
of flexible working time arrangements.
Especially, in this case, the security to stay
in the same job is widespread in Hungary.
While comparing those who would
like and who would not like to work after
pension entitlement, it is noticeable that
not adapted jobs can be more important
for Slovenian and Hungarian employees
and, thus, can prevent them from the
prolongation of working life.
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