Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

the workability of older workers; how the regulations of hiring and firing, further training
and health management affect the chances for continued work; how managers deal with
older workers with regard to dismissals, lay-off and other cases of termination of the work
contract; and what role the workplace representatives (works councils or shop-level trade
unions) plays in those respects. The goal of my analysis, and of the comparison between
Germany and Poland, will be to find out which (corporate and public) policies for the
prolongation of working life work, and in what context.
I will approach those questions with the help of qualitative expert interviews with
representatives of the management and the workforce in about 30 Polish and German
companies and with the study of collected material on those enterprises (collective and
works council agreements, personnel statistics, company reports et al.). Additional
qualitative interviews with public officials and chairpersons of trade unions and employers´
associations in Germany will support me in the analysis of results.
Besides of the question related to past developments, in my work I will pose a question
directed into the future – What chances and barriers are there for a reversal of the trend
towards early exit ages in Poland and Germany? In order to answer that question, I will
analyse developments at the statutory, collective bargaining and firm level which have an
impact on recruitment, continued employment and labour market exit of older workers.
I proceed on the assumption that the labour force participation of older workers and the
exit from the labour market depend on a complex arrangement of institutional, socioeconomic
and firm-based factors. The trend towards early exit will only be reversed if
respective statutory measures, especially in the field of pension policy, are translated into
firm behaviour. A comparison between Germany and Poland and a diachronic time frame
(Gerring 2001: 222-5) are best suited for my research question. This approach allows for a
detection of a national pattern of internalisation and externalisation of older workers. It is
also useful for analysing what patterns of state and firm-level (retirement) policies are
beneficial or detrimental to the prolongation of working life.
The idea for my study was sparked by the project “Active Ageing – Chances and
Barriers for Active Ageing Policies in Europe“ which was financed in the years 2003-2005
by the European Commission. 3
3 Reports written by me and my colleagues within that project can be found on the website www.iccrinternational.org/activage/.
3