Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

To sum up, applicants over 50 are taken into consideration for job openings only in one
construction company (as of 2006) and for singular areas in some other firms. However,
those handful of firms differ with regard to the explanatory variables of recruitment
behaviour (age structure of the firm´s workforce and its economic position), therefore
hypothesis 3 asserting the power of those variables upon hiring policy is not supported here.
Polish firms show far-reaching homogeneity with regard to hesitant or discriminatory hiring
policy towards older workers. The non-recruitment of older workers is in rare cases the
result of ageism (more often in privatised firm with foreign capital), in other cases it is not
deliberate policy but rather a by-product of weighing stereotypical assumptions of older
workers´ capabilities and deficiencies against the job profile. My studies have revealed a
large divergence between declarations of ´age-blind´ recruitment policy, and the actual
outcome of hiring processes.
The transition to market economy has lowered the recruitment chances of older
applicants. Due to high unemployment, there are large numbers of available younger and
middle-aged workers, who have a higher educational level and ´fresh´ knowledge needed in
companies subject to market competition and assumed higher productivity and work ethic.
Also the obsolete know-how of older applicants (e.g. servicing of old machines) and
qualifications which do not match current requirements (e.g. command of Russian instead
of English or German) contribute to their low recruitment chances.
The differences in the position of trade unionists and managers with regard to the topic
of recruitment amounted to the fact that managers had greater latitude to decide on those
aspects, shop stewards aimed to protect the re-hiring chances of former workers and voiced
preference for internal hiring in the form of promotion before external hiring. Both parties
were sympathetic towards hiring younger persons as those who have still to “earn their
living”.
The recruitment chances for older workers have improved between 2005 and 2006 due
to decreased unemployment and the shortage of qualified blue-collar workers after the
closure of secondary vocational schools. Also the opportunity to find work in EU countries
has created vacancies to be filled by older workers who are less willing to migrate.
4.3.4. Further Vocational Training
As we have seen above, up-to-date qualifications matching the current job profiles are
of crucial importance for finding a new job and remaining in employment. An elaborate
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