Who has never thought about giving up everything to change careers? Sometimes suffered, often chosen, retraining has never bothered the French so much, especially after the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19. To give meaning to their daily lives, earn a better living or simply get a change of scenery. But not everyone is equal depending on their age to try the adventure.
After the adoption – with pain – of the pension reform last year (raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64), the government reiterated its desire to encourage companies to retain their senior population Longer. Objective: improve the employment rate of 55-64 year olds, currently one of the lowest in the European Union (56.9% compared to 62.4% in the EU in 2022 according to Dares), although slightly increasing, but far behind those of countries like Germany (73.3%) or Sweden (77.3%). On the business side, we see that mobilization is not there. According to a survey by the Oasys firm (May 2023), 73% of them say they have still not initiated specific policies on the subject, 21% contenting themselves with considering, in the short term, implementing actions to raising awareness among management to “fight against preconceptions and prejudices linked to age”.
Managers who are not very involved
This lack of enthusiasm towards them does not escape the lucidity of the seniors. According to the study The New Human Age carried out by Manpower Group in November 2022, only 38% of employees aged 55 to 64 believe that their manager is involved in their career development, and only 43% that their employer encourages them to follow training. “Despite an economic slowdown in recent months, companies remain obsessed with the need to recruit the profiles and skills they need to continue and accelerate their development in a context of a tense job market,” analyzes Arnauld Fourniol, director of HR transformation at Mercer France. Training older employees really does not represent their priority. Companies are more willing to offer them progressive support measures towards retirement. Seniors must therefore take charge of maintaining their employability.”
A global giant in collective catering, the Sodexo group is one of the most proactive companies in favor of its experienced employees. As part of the employment and career management agreements, the company has introduced senior part-time work, retirement assessments and training modules… On the side of the aeronautical and space engine manufacturer Safran, which has 13,500 people in its workforce aged over 50 in France (out of a total of 43,200), subsidized part-time measures so that they can work longer have been put in place. And, as part of an agreement signed with all the union organizations, the company has also promised an “effort” on continuing training for this specific category of its staff.
Highly motivated employees
What if, beyond this support measure proposed by human resources, the solution to keeping “elderly” employees in the company lay in establishing mutual trust between the two parties? As at Frans Bonhomme (2,200 employees), a company specializing in the distribution of materials for networks and infrastructures, where the senior population represents 20% of the workforce. “In 2022, we only had around fifteen retirements, while many people had all of their quarters. Our seniors are just as motivated as the others, because they know – they tell us. have confided in an internal QVT (quality of life at work) study – that we systematically associate them with our entire corporate strategy, particularly in terms of commercial conquest. No one knows the DNA of the company, and especially its customers.”