Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

However, not for all workers and not in all firms is such an adaptation possible. In most
establishments, company policy prescribes a certain preferred utilisation pattern of ATZ.
The interviewed personnel managers explained that their firms want to compromise
between the interest of older workers to minimise deductions on the one hand, and the
interest of the firm in flexible personnel deployment, quick personnel reductions and
creating vacancies for younger workers on the other hand.
Those examples support hypothesis 4 – workers postpone their entry into the early
retirement scheme due to the force of circumstances, because retirement at the age of 63 is
no longer possible after ATZ. Thus, institutional contexts narrow down the opportunities for
the individual (and for birth cohorts) which shape his/her life course (Mayer 2001: 165). In
a second step, however, they adapt their life plans accordingly, or reject the ATZ offer
altogether. Further support for the hypothesis was already given in section 4.2.4. – some
incumbent older workers are, according to the actual experience of the interviewees, not
willing to learn new things. As reasons, the interviewees saw the institution of retirement,
the early retirement scheme, and the protection against dismissals. 50 Workers in preretirement
age expect to leave the firm around their 60 th birthday – either at their own wish
or due to personnel reductions – and perceive no opportunity to utilise new investments into
their education. At the same time – which is in line with actor-centred institutionalism – the
decisions of whole cohorts shape institutions. It was only the large-scale utilisation of early
retirement by individuals (and firms), coupled with demographic ageing, which moved the
legislator to curtail this option.
Institutional changes do however not always have the desired impact on the
prolongation of working life. Uncertainty as to further governmental plans, and the
announced closing of retirement at the age 63 (when signing an ATZ contract after 2003)
and of retirement at 65 without deductions (when signing an ATZ contract after 2006, when
the raising of retirement ages to 67 started phasing in) moved whole cohorts of eligible
workers to enter the early retirement scheme before the deadlines.
Moreover, some workers have not yet realised that the early retirement scheme is
phasing out, as reported by several works council members. Workers who can afford
pension deductions show a continued orientation towards early exit. Moreover, firm culture
50 It has to be added that scholarly literature takes contradictory positions on the issue of learning ability of
older workers irrespective of institutional impact discussed here (Lehr 2000: 82ff, 213; ). Inner-firm training
policies play a crucial role for the preservation of learning ability (Frerichs 2007: 73-4).
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