Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University
Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University
All German firms in the sample occupy a medium position with regard to internalisation, resp. externalisation of older workers. About half of the studied firms have developed an age management strategy or their personnel policy takes into account some aspects of the ageing of the workforce, while the other half is in the stage of ´muddling through´ and incrementalism (Wiesenthal 2003: 60ff; Kohli/Rein 1991: 12), adapting policies to current needs. The latter half of firms has not yet realised the need to respond to the (approaching) challenges of workforce and demographic ageing with a comprehensive HRM policy. (The values in this index were derived inter al. from Table 16 in section 4.2.2. which visualised in how many HRM fields the studied firms are active.) The two variables are not significantly correlated. Firms in the column ´medium-internalising position´ are characterised by a mixed portfolio of HRM strategies towards older workers. E.g., Firm DE-13 has an internalising policy with regard to health management, but seldom takes into account older applicants in recruitment. The civil service establishment Firm DE-1 grants equal access to applicants of all ages (with the exception of certain areas, e.g. fire brigade), but does neither have a developed further training policy nor age-adequate measures in this field. Firms in the column ´medium-externalising position´ actively push out older workers on early retirement, do not include them as new recruits, and/or use externalisation as a solution to integration problems of impaired workers. E.g., Firm DE-11 conducts a qualification plan and gives equal access to training to workers of all ages but does not prevent the early exit of older, incapacitated workers on disability pensions. On overall, it can be said that German firms in the sample have an inconsistent personnel policy towards older workers. On the one hand, the direction of personnel policy varies across policy fields. E.g., the firms can at the same time adopt health management policies with the aim of preserving the workability of its workers, and set an incentive to early exit of unproductive or incapacitated workers by compensating for pension deductions; or highly value the know-how of older workers and ensure transferability of knowledge onto younger workers while at the same time rejecting older applicants with the argument that their knowledge is too specialised and „narrow-gauged“. On the other hand, the HRM policy might change in the medium term due to the impact of structural or demographic conditions on the labour market (see Fig. 1 in chapter 2.). 161
Another result of my studies, which can be read from Table 19, is that there are no firms which have a thoroughly internalising personnel policy towards older workers, and no firms which have a thoroughly externalising policy. Thus, I can confirm the statement of Naschold et al. (1994b: 142) about an „homogeneous age-selective externalisation strategy“ only with regard to employee exit policies (which was the only realm of company policy taken into account by Naschold et al.), but not when assessing the overall shape of HRM. Other evidence partly shows a perpetuation of mechanisms revealed by Naschold et al. (1994b) in the 1980s, and partly a break with those mechanisms. One similarity is the fact that firms still do not primarily pursue a “productivity logic” in their use of early retirement and do not aim at rejuvenation but rather at stabilising the employment shares of ´50 pluses´ (ibid: 148-9, 153). Another similarity is the continuing cooperation of the management and the works council on issues of early retirement in such a way as to make the externalisation acceptable to the workers concerned both in terms of secured income and adherence to the norm of “employment stability” (ibid: 151, 153), and the “constrained choice” nature of early retirement options for employees (no integrative option like in Japan, the USA or Sweden is available; ibid: 153). The difference to evidence presented by Naschold et al. (1994b) lies therein that not all older workers nowadays directly enter retirement after ceasing work but rather go through stages of unemployment cushioned with severance payments, disability pension receipt, or the ´free-time phase´ of the early retirement scheme (ibid: 144). Moreover, the use of early retirement does not lead to a levelling off of age structures across different branches as apparently was the case in the 1980s and early 1990s (ibid: 145). Last but not least, the assessment of Naschold et al. (1994b: 142) that German firms view older workers as a ´flexibility potential´ and not as a vital human resource, and that they do not attempt to develop a systematic policy aimed at their integration has to be qualified. My firm case studies have shown that there is – admittedly a low – number of firms which take into account the ageing of the workforce and develop holistic HRM strategies as a response, and a somewhat larger number of firms which address the demographic challenge in singular policy fields like health management or further training. Moreover, the firm-specific knowhow of older workers is being increasingly recognised as a resource – firms develop methods for know-how transfer, and seek to retain singular older know-how carriers or to re-integrate them as retirees via a consultancy contract. 162
- Page 121 and 122: (Schmidt/Gatter 1997: 168), in Pola
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Another result of my studies, which can be read from Table 19, is that there are no firms<br />
which have a thoroughly internalising personnel policy towards older workers, and no firms<br />
which have a thoroughly externalising policy. Thus, I can confirm the statement of<br />
Naschold et al. (1994b: 142) about an „homogeneous age-selective externalisation<br />
strategy“ only with regard to employee exit policies (which was the only realm of company<br />
policy taken into account by Naschold et al.), but not when assessing the overall shape of<br />
HRM.<br />
Other evidence partly shows a perpetuation of mechanisms revealed by Naschold et al.<br />
(1994b) in the 1980s, and partly a break with those mechanisms. One similarity is the fact<br />
that firms still do not primarily pursue a “productivity logic” in their use of early retirement<br />
and do not aim at rejuvenation but rather at stabilising the employment shares of ´50 pluses´<br />
(ibid: 148-9, 153). Another similarity is the continuing cooperation of the management and<br />
the works council on issues of early retirement in such a way as to make the externalisation<br />
acceptable to the workers concerned both in terms of secured income and adherence to the<br />
norm of “employment stability” (ibid: 151, 153), and the “constrained choice” nature of<br />
early retirement options for employees (no integrative option like in Japan, the USA or<br />
Sweden is available; ibid: 153).<br />
The difference to evidence presented by Naschold et al. (1994b) lies therein that not all<br />
older workers nowadays directly enter retirement after ceasing work but rather go through<br />
stages of unemployment cushioned with severance payments, disability pension receipt, or<br />
the ´free-time phase´ of the early retirement scheme (ibid: 144). Moreover, the use of early<br />
retirement does not lead to a levelling off of age structures across different branches as<br />
apparently was the case in the 1980s and early 1990s (ibid: 145). Last but not least, the<br />
assessment of Naschold et al. (1994b: 142) that German firms view older workers as a<br />
´flexibility potential´ and not as a vital human resource, and that they do not attempt to<br />
develop a systematic policy aimed at their integration has to be qualified. My firm case<br />
studies have shown that there is – admittedly a low – number of firms which take into<br />
account the ageing of the workforce and develop holistic HRM strategies as a response, and<br />
a somewhat larger number of firms which address the demographic challenge in singular<br />
policy fields like health management or further training. Moreover, the firm-specific knowhow<br />
of older workers is being increasingly recognised as a resource – firms develop<br />
methods for know-how transfer, and seek to retain singular older know-how carriers or to<br />
re-integrate them as retirees via a consultancy contract.<br />
162