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. 87