Study: Potential of Older People for the Labor Market Greater Than Expected

In this phase, some people feel more capable of finding a job and working for a short period than before. This is the result of a study conducted by researchers from the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) and the University of Vienna based on a panel survey by Statistics Austria.

Fundamentally, it is not surprising that the ability to work and the possibility of finding or keeping a job decrease with age, as study author Monika Mühlböck from IHS explained at a press conference on Wednesday. However, it has not been closely examined in Austria how reaching retirement age affects this "subjective employability," which is related to the motivation for work. Until recently, it was assumed that the "negative age effect" would continue to intensify, for example, by the perceived loss of skills during non-working time, making people feel less fit for the job. Social scientists also previously assumed that the perception of one's own age, due to the break that retirement represents for people, negatively impacts the individual view of one's own possibilities.

People More Motivated Shortly After Retirement

These theses have largely not been supported by the investigation, which was made possible by new data from the long-running panel study "Austrian Socio-Economic Panel" (ASEP). On the contrary: "We see, contrary to the theory, that subjective employability does not take a downward turn upon reaching retirement age, but rather an upward one. This means that subjective employability even increases in the short term before it declines again," said Mühlböck. This creates a kind of time window with the potential to encourage people to return to the labor market.

Especially against the backdrop of demographic change, the massive loss of qualified workers that comes with it, and the growing pressure of pensions on state finances, these results are interesting, Mühlböck noted at the media discussion organized by the initiative "Discourse. The Science Network." Of course, the study's results do not apply to everyone: For women, for example, the "jump" upwards is generally stronger than for men because they currently retire earlier. Similar observations were made for higher qualified individuals and people in good health.

Wifo Study Sees Need for Political Action

New insights into the demographic issue and its impact on the labor market are also provided by a recent study from the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (Wifo) commissioned by the Chamber of Labor (AK): According to this, if politics does not take action, by 2029, about 51,000 more people with an apprenticeship qualification will retire than those entering the labor market with such a qualification. An additional result would be an annual economic growth rate that is about 0.1 percent lower.

In this scenario, companies might often be unable to fill open positions, costs would incur for searching for suitable skilled workers, and investments would have to be postponed. In critical sectors such as health, security, and basic services, services would likely have to be restricted.

Qualification Closes Skills Gap and Increases Growth

However, if investment is made in qualification, this would not only reduce the gap in skilled workers, but economic growth would also increase, according to the study's result. The GDP would be 0.1 percent higher in 2029 than under the assumption that politics remains inactive. The prerequisite is that 40,000 people are "upskilled" to an apprenticeship qualification. In view of this, Wifo expert Julia Bock-Schappelwein recommends that politics massively expand training offers, as she said on Wednesday.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.