Although it is hard to believe, Dagmara Szymczak, the president of the Dignum Foundation, a Women's 50+ trainer and a member of the Senior Policy Council, he does not see anything spectacular in her history.
– It wasn't a Hollywood breakthrough. It was a professional burnout, no sense of sense in stable work for a corporation and you need to finally do something that is in harmony with my values - he says. – I had neither financial facilities or a millionaire's husband or passive income. I had PLN 500 to the founding fund of my foundation. To be able to stay, I worked as a babysitter in a private Senior House.
She had experience both as a volunteer in nursing homes and a guardian of a loved one. – Then I survived the headlamp with a system that simply humiliates, humiliates, excludes, depreciates and infantilizes older people. It was so strong for me that I found that I could not agree to it – he recalls.
This is how the idea was born to establish the Dignum Foundation, whose mission is to support the dignified and independent life of the elderly.
From burnout to work with a mission
Today, the organization conducts the “worthy meal” programs – providing warm food to poor seniors and a “dignified home” – helping to adapt the apartments to the needs of dependent people.
The Foundation also conducts activities for professional activationsuch as workshops for women 50+ who want to return to the labor market or computer courses for seniors. In addition, it promotes intergenerational integration and organizes educational activities that are aimed at increasing public awareness about the needs of the elderly and the disabled.
In addition to the president of the Foundation, Mrs. Dagmara is a career trainer for women over the age of fifty. She works with women who – like her – were at the turning point.
– A common denominator for all women who come to me? This Logging on the labor market. They know what they don't want, but they don't know what they can have in return And how to achieve it – he explains. – Added to this are the beliefs blocking them: that I am too old, that I am not suitable, that it is too late, that I have nothing to offer.
He works at work according to its own “ADP” method. – “autoaudite” is a look at your resources. “Decision” means that I consciously choose the direction and follow it, because nothing happens by itself. And “a real goal” is getting to know your “what for?”, Which gives me meaning – he explains. – If we do not know our basic values and set up a company, while the most important for us is a sense of security, we will be tired. Running your own business simply does not provide such security – he adds.
Women want to work, but the market can't see them
As indicated by the statistics cited by Mrs. Dagmara, over a million women in fifty in Poland would like to work, but find no employment for themselves. – The problem is that the market is still not ready for them – he says. – Companies declare diversity, but this does not translate into practice. In addition, there is a lack of current knowledge – many of these women do not know how LinkedIn works, how to write a modern CV. I talked to the employer who claimed that she would gladly employ such women, but they did not come to recruit. Something here is fundamentally.
As part of the project “Find a job 50+. Impossible mission”, financed by the Warsaw City of Warsaw, conducted workshops with a group of women in fifty. – They were great specialists. Only for years no one told them how to move in the new reality. There was no bridge between them and the market – he notes.
The expert reminds you that Women today have the longest life, the shortest careers and the lowest pensions. – If we do not start talking about it and act, more and more of them will end professional activity in poverty and loneliness.
Work does not have to be a passion. But it can be an anchor
Mrs. Dagmara approaches popular slogans about “doing what you love”. – Work does not have to be a dream come true. It can be a value. Something that gives us sense every day, contact with other people, the feeling that we still have something to offer to the world.
– Sometimes someone says: “I don't feel causative at work.” But a moment is enough in retirement to feel what a real lack of agency means. Loneliness, lack of assigned role and a sense of usefulness – it's much more difficult than it seems.
Therefore, its goal is not only “reinstatement to work”. – It's rather a question: what is still curious about you? What can you take for yourself from this next phase of life? You don't have to be a grandmother on call. You have the right to be valid – on your terms.
System changes are needed
As a member of the Council for Senior Policy, Dagmara Szymczak is working on specific solutions. She is not foreign to the problems of each of the parties, employees and employers.
– Protective age is certainly problematic. Employers are afraid to employ older employees, especially women. They often slow down a moment before entering the protective age, so as not to have this problem later – he explains.
– For many older people, more flexible forms of employment are important. You also need encouragement for employers, training subsidies, and reservoir. It is necessary to train HRs to be able to communicate intergenerational-he calculates.
Age is not a character trait
– As a society, we have a strange manner of treating age as character traits – he notes. – We think that someone in the sixties will not make a good decision that they will “not keep up”. Meanwhile, the elderly have huge resources, only other than younger generations: soft competences, patience, stability.
In her opinion, the labor market is not about competition. – This is not a competition that is better. The idea is to stop treating age as a barrier. We have different perspectives, we can complement each other. Contrary to appearances, the biggest barrier is not technology, but communication. Find a common language with a twenty -year -old who uses completely different cultural codes and speaks in the rhythm of Tiktok, it is much more difficult than to learn to use Teams.
According to the expert, it is also key to changing the approach to the work itself. – Work is a social value. We are all trumpeting about the epidemic of loneliness among older people – and the antidote is just work.
Finally, he adds: – Maybe you just have to do something to make work fashionable. Because if not, this demographic bomb will explode straight in our face. And then it may be too late for any actions.
