The Council highlights the importance of adopting measures to mitigate unemployment among those aged 45-64 as there is a real need to create jobs for a group with high levels of long-term unemployment and often with dependents. Part of the employability problem lies in the groups low educational levels, but its members also have lower chances of accessing training within companies or once unemployed.The Council calls for a strategic plan containing urgent measures and short and medium-term priorities. It could take the current "Estrategia 55+" programme as a starting point and be part of a review of active employment policies and vocational training. The Councils PROPOSALS The objective of Community policy has been to raise labour market participation among the older population, for insufficient attention has been given to the problem of employability in this group. Accordingly wide-ranging initiatives should be developed at Community level to improve the employability of the most vulnerable portion of the group, of which there are already examples in some Member States.The group is targeted by diverse measures which do not correspond to any systematic, overall view based on an assessment of the characteristics of this broad population segment, and thus urgent steps should be taken along with other medium and long-term measures within a specific, consistent and unified strategy for articulating the various initiatives and stimuli. "Estrategia 55+" is a suitable starting point, to be updated as considered appropriate. The resources devoted to funding vocational training for employment (VTE) have been significantly reduced in the past two years, so sufficient funding for such training should be guaranteed, with efficient management and appropriate evaluation as well as an injection of resources and efforts in order to resolve certain problems. Social dialogue should play a prominent part in this process. Policies for preventing unemployment and encouraging workers to remain in the labour market The participation of workers aged 45 and above in training in companies is six points below their share in paid employment, i.e. they are underrepresented, and the number of hours per participant is also lower. Thus measures should be promoted to raise such workers participation in training activities in companies, including individual training leave for workers in this age group, thereby increasing their chances of maintaining and upgrading their qualifications and employability. Stress should be placed on older workers with low or medium levels of education/training.The system of incentives for preventing job losses in general and among those aged over 45 in particular has so far proved ineffective. Thus, despite the obligation for large firms to make a contribution to public funds in the event of collective dismissals disproportionately affecting workers aged 50 or more, this group is still clearly overrepresented in lay-offs, and so we should implement certain measures recommended by the EU such as the eradication of negative stereotypes affecting older workers through publicity campaigns or a closer focus by employment services on this objective. There is also a need to highlight the competences acquired by workers through experience and informal training, and for preventive and advisory measures in restructuring processes and better re-employment services for older workers. This stress on active ageing should not mean ignoring the current context of crisis in the labour market. Specific measures should be envisaged to alleviate the effects of the crisis, with employability objectives backed by suitable adjustments in the social welfare system to encourage a sustainable extension of working life. Moreover it would be advisable to reflect on new forms of partial retirement in response to the need for a more gradual withdrawal from the labour market on the part of certain workers. The Council also proposes an integral view of options for remaining in employment so as to promote reconciliation and voluntary delaying measures (the possibility of reconciling pension and employment attracted only 9,000 people in 2013, mostly self-employed workers).Measures and policies for labour market activation and re-entryJob placement and career guidance Career guidance programmes for older workers must be a priority in enhancing the profile of this disadvantaged group. The heterogeneity of older people means that more individualised forms of guidance should be applied, eschewing a generalist approach. Participation by unemployed people aged over 45 in career guidance is generally stable, though slightly lower than the share that they represent among the unemployed overall, especially so as regards the subgroup aged over 55. Thus extra effort should be made to ensure a balanced participation of older workers with particular emphasis on those aged over 55. Moreover their participation in intensive actions should be encouraged with a view to maximising their employability, and the opening of placement services to public-private partnership should not result in reduced access to employment for the older unemployed. An equitable distribution of unemployed groups to private agencies, suitably reflecting the total age distribution and, within that, the various profiles, qualifications and education levels, is therefore essential. Training and retraining of unemployed workers The coverage rate of training for the unemployed, starting from modest levels in the years before the crisis, has clearly and steadily fallen in recent years, to a level which can only be seen as insufficient given the extent of unemployment in the period. There is an urgent need to raise this training rate at least to pre-crisis levels, and so a big effort should be made in terms of the funding and coordination of public employment services so as to achieve results in the short term, while ensuring efficient management and adequate evaluation. Participation in training programmes by unemployed workers aged over 45 is lower than by the unemployed overall, confirming this groups under-representation in training for jobless workers. And those who have received training show lower employment re-entry rates, especially those aged over 55, so steps should be taken to increase the groups participation in training within the annual planning of employment policy, involving a proportionally greater short-term effort for the group so as to achieve a more balanced participation in VTE by age. This would also involve assigning more specialist human resources to these tasks along the same lines mentioned in our previous proposals for vocational placement and guidance. Recruitment incentives The nature of the recession has minimised the effect of supply-side policies on job creation, especially as regards the system of incentives for recruitment. The new recruitment incentive scheme does not seem to be specifically geared to facilitating a return to employment by these vulnerable groups, such those aged over 45 with dependents receiving benefits or job-seekers allowance or whose unemployment benefit has run out. Accordingly an incentive system should be devised with a view to reorienting employment towards the groups with most difficulty in accessing the labour market. Support for self-employment and entrepreneurshipIn the field of employment policies aimed at encouraging and promoting self-employment and entrepreneurship, no specific treatment is observable for the group under consideration. Moreover there has been a sharp drop more than 50% in funds devoted to the programme for promoting self-employment. Consequently the public authorities should develop strategies or policy lines consistent with the characteristics of this population segment, resulting in specific grants or incentives for self-employment, thereby resolving the issues and the obstacles and risks encountered by this group when starting a business. And there should be sufficient resources available for such policy strategies.Collective bargaining instruments Collective bargaining agreements include age-related matters as regards equality and non-discrimination at work and also questions of pay, severance or in-company training, but collective bargaining should include the age perspective with an integrated approach. Within collective bargaining we need to promote a suitable integration of people in the higher age range, including through the adjustment of work environments and conditions so as to facilitate stability in employment for older workers and companies needs in terms of organisation and adaptation. Stress should continue to be laid on minimising the social consequences of employment restructuring measures, using alternatives to dismissals in order to make it easier to retain workers or to help laid-off workers return to work.Companies and workers representatives should make greater efforts during consultation periods to detect situations of high personal vulnerability and to identify appropriate measures regarding, for example, older workers, helping to prevent them from becoming redundant with a high risk of long-term unemployment.Social protection for those aged 45-64- After the recent changes, especially relating to the higher minimum age for qualifying for the special benefit for the older unemployed, of 55, the number people receiving this benefit fell by 47% relative to the previous year. Thus special consideration should be given to the situation of unemployed workers aged over 45 who have exhausted all unemployment benefits and are younger than 55, for example by reducing the age requirement for qualifying for this benefit, which may continue until retirement age, so as not to leave an unemployed group with particular difficulties in re-entering the labour market out of the system. - The family unit income requirement could be reconsidered, or alternatively, an exception made with a view to funding special social security arrangements. And the contribution rate for retirement pension in this benefit could again be increased.- At least as regards maintaining welfare protection, in the current situation the arrangements for Guaranteed Minimum Income ought to be reconsidered, with its duration being increased or the limit on how often it may be received eliminated. - It would be advisable to consolidate a Guaranteed Minimum Income system as a legal right allowing basic needs to be met and giving adequate coverage those at risk of poverty and exclusion. This would necessarily require the provision of suitable funding. - The objective of extending work life should involve giving equivalent attention to incentives for remaining in work so as to formulate a policy balanced with the efforts made thus far to check departures from the labour market.The report was unanimously backed by the organisations represented on the Spanish ESC.
