Veterans in Labor: Why it's hard for the elderly to find work
Less than 6 million people over 60 and under 75 are involved in the Russian labor market, while 19 million representatives of this age category are capable of labor activity. This follows from the expert report of the National Priorities ANO. It notes that in conditions of staff shortage and record low unemployment, these people could become a valuable labor resource. But they are hindered by the inflexibility of employers - discrimination against such candidates or employees, their unwillingness to provide convenient schedules, the lack of programs to improve qualifications, including in the field of computer literacy. The Izvestia article tells about the industries in which aged workers could work.
How many able-bodied pensioners there are in the country
In Russia, 19 million representatives of the older generation - people under 75 years old - are able to work, but only 5.7 million people over 60 years old are employed in the labor market. This follows from the expert report "The Older Generation as a Personnel and Social Resource" by ANO National Priorities, which was reviewed by Izvestia.
According to the demographic forecast of Rosstat, by 2043 the number of representatives of the older generation will increase by 26% compared to 2023. The authors of the study note that in the context of changes in the age structure of the population, as well as the increasing need of the Russian economy in personnel, representatives of the older generation are becoming one of the key resources of society. But now representatives of the older generation spend from 6.6 to 8 months to find a job.
"Because of this, job seekers may refuse to continue their labor activity," the report says. - Employers, government and nonprofit organizations should create comfortable conditions for such people".
The authors identified eight barriers that prevent older adults from staying in the labor market. Four of them are external, i.e. from the employer's side. These are age discrimination (ageism), the unwillingness of organizations to accept flexible schedules for such employees, the digitalization of industries, which is accompanied by a demand for a high degree of computer literacy, and the need to organize professional development and retraining for age employees.
As one of the expert participants in the survey, Yulia Maltseva, director of the autonomous non-profit organization Silver Age, noted, companies often talk a lot about opportunities for students and young professionals when recruiting staff.
- But so far there are few companies that invite: "Come to us, we are not only for young people, but also for seniors," she said.
National Priorities analysts note that older workers have an increasing need to relax and spend time with their families, particularly their grandchildren.
"Therefore, one of the key factors of motivation to stay in the labor market is to create a more flexible and comfortable working environment. This is also what some organizations are already going for, while others are starting to prepare for it," the document says.
For example, Roza Khashkhayan, director of the HR department of the Volga territory of X5 Group, who was also an expert in this research, noted that this company uses short flexible schedules.
- This becomes a bonus when attracting employees of age 55 plus," she said. - And we provide the opportunity to work part-time shifts of two to four hours instead of eight to 10 hours.
The study also states that the level of computer literacy among the category in question remains inadequate. In 2022, the index of computer literacy among people in the age group amounted to 65% against the Russian average of 72%. However, within the framework of the federal project "Older Generation" in 2023, 186.9 thousand people were trained in computer literacy - 28.6% more than in 2022.
In addition, the experts also highlighted internal barriers to employment for the elderly. These include a lack of understanding of the job search process by older generation representatives, as well as the sphere of their demand, except for their main profession, fear of receiving a large number of rejections during the search and before training.
But, as employers note, the older generation is a valuable human resource. The need of such people to pass on their accumulated experience and knowledge grows into the practice of mentoring, which is in demand in the workplace. In industrial companies, for example, older people can work with young people and provide career guidance to schoolchildren. Thus, the expert of the report, senior manager for training and development of PJSC "Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works" Konstantin Klinov said that people of the older generation have serious expertise in their profession, and therefore the company invites them to various positions in the corporate center to train employees.
Nikolay Zakharov, General Director of the Pochet Charity Fund (which provides social guarantees for non-working pensioners of the Russian Railways holding company), noted that Russian Railways "appealed to veterans with an offer to return to labor activity in the role of engineers and technicians and representatives of working professions".
- Veterans also act as experts in professional competitions and mentor young people, passing on their years of experience," he said.
Why employers will have to let go of prejudices
With a shortage of labor supply, employers will have to abandon barriers to hiring, including age barriers, the job search service Superjob told Izvestia.
- The advantage in the labor market will be for those companies that will come to this understanding faster. Already now there are more employers hiring job seekers of retirement age than last year, but this phenomenon is not yet widespread," the company said. - According to personal assessments of job seekers, the most difficult to find a job are men over 60 and women 54-56 years old.
The service also provided the top 10 positions for which employers are willing to consider people of age. And these are mostly positions with low or no qualifications. For men over 63 years of age - it is a handyman, special equipment driver, lawyer, security guard or janitor, personal driver, fitter-repairman, courier, plumber and storekeeper. And for women over the age of 58 years are offered positions of janitor and concierge, maid, nurse, call-center operator, nurse, cook and baker, sales or customer service manager, accountant, storekeeper.
However, employers are ready to consider retirees and for the positions of managers with a salary of more than 200 thousand rubles: the platform has positions for them general director, head of construction, director of operation, director of production or chief technologist, engineer-estimator, chief accountant.
Felix Kugel, managing director of the Unity NITY staffing company, said that among employers in conditions of staff shortage the demand for managers with experience and good work record has increased many times.
- And in general, the trend is increasingly toward older people at different levels of positions in virtually all fields," he said. - Companies that are ready to meet the challenge and offer, for example, hybrid or flexible working hours are in a more favorable position: as a rule, in the trade and service sectors. These are real estate agencies, insurance companies and so on.
He added that the best way to retain and attract the older generation is to stop treating it as a forced labor.
- When an employee, whether a "boomer" or a "zoomer," gets a job, often the most effective way to leave a good impression of the company is to be treated kindly by colleagues and management," the expert said.
Margarita Patrusheva, head of "Organization and Personnel" at Reksoft Consulting, confirmed to Izvestia that the creation of suitable working conditions is of paramount importance in the adaptation of age specialists in the workplace.
- Often such employees find themselves in teams where the average age is much lower. Moreover, energetic young managers become their supervisors," she gave an example. - And communication barriers can arise, among other things, because managers set tasks via messengers, which is unusual for older employees.
According to her, the problem of mutual understanding between young managers and age subordinates can be solved gradually by employers through special programs and other measures to create a comfortable and age-tolerant working environment.
Today, businesses need to monitor not only the market level of labor remuneration and competitors' offers, but also socio-demographic trends, changing the recruitment tactics and requirements for candidates in accordance with them, Marina Khadina, director of development of CRM for recruiting Talantix (part of the HR-ecosystem hh.ru), told Izvestia.
- It is important to take into account the actual number of able-bodied population, rather than personal beliefs, and even more so prejudices related to one or another age, and to apply different approaches to attracting and retaining employees," she said. - Global experience shows that multi-age teams are valuable for business, because more experienced specialists can train younger ones and vice versa.
Atthe same time, ageism on the part of Russian employers is less evident now than it was a few years ago, said Yulia Zabazarnykh, partner at the headhunting company Contact (InterSearch Russia).
- Sometimes even in the wishes for candidates I rather hear that preference is given to applicants 40+, especially in production management, medical sphere, finance. Of course, in IT the average age of candidates is less, but here business is already more loyal to age due to the shortage of staff," she said. - Of the total number of top managers that we have identified over the last two years, about 5% are 60+. Our forecast is an increase in demand for mature employees, but to attract and retain such specialists at all levels requires a flexible approach to working hours, the willingness of business shareholders to delegate authority, and a culture of mentoring.
But age does not equal experience, the expert noted. Therefore, candidates need to constantly develop their competencies, keep abreast of all modern trends and technologies, and constantly work on the development of personal competencies, primarily to maintain flexibility and openness to new things.
According to the hh.ru service, resumes of older age groups of job seekers show an annual increase. During 2022, this portal had monthly 27 thousand resumes of job seekers aged 61 and older, and in 2023 this figure amounted to 32 thousand.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
