oa De praktijk van het beleid rond oudere werknemers. Ouderenbeleid en leeftijdsbewust personeelsbeleid in de regio Amsterdam

Employer policies towards older workers in practice

Political institutions and pressure groups are pleading to have employees work until the official retirement age of 65. Currently it is a huge challenge to improve development of the skills and usability of older employees while retaining their health, motivation and competences. Searching for the improvement of the participation of older workers we asked human resources (HR) officers in the Amsterdam region what images they have of the older worker and looked for policies and practices in their organizations. Current HR management and policies in organisations mainly take no notion of older employees. If they are addressed, they are often considered to be a burden for organisational growth and the focus is on exit programs. In general, managers adopt a passive and indifferent attitude towards older employees. In their recruitment practices almost no organisation (wants to) select older workers. There seems to be a difference in the approach towards older employees between profit and not for profit organisations.