Seemingly everything works: employers want to employ, offices have programs, candidates are motivated. Unfortunately, not much results from it. – Everyone works in their silo – explains Dagmara Szymczak, president of the Dignum Foundation, partner of the “Career 50+” project.
– There is a lack of a common language, a common goal. Even communication is a barrier. Labor offices speak an administrative language, and their websites resemble a maze.
In addition, there is a lack of presence in social media. – If the employment office does not have an account on LinkedIn, how should he reach the employer? How is to speak the language of people who are looking for a job in the 21st century? – adds the expert, emphasizing the urgent need for digital transformation in the public sector.
And he can't see age, but he sees dates
Recruitment is one of the most painful threads. – The problem is mismatched procedures and new tools – says Agnieszka Operhalska, co -founder of the Heart & Mind Foundation, Wisdom of Generations – ATS systems (Applicant Tracking Systems) automatically exclude the CV of the elderly. Even if the candidate does not enter the date of birth, the system will meet him anyway, filtering other data.
The language of advertisements works similarly. – If I see an offer for a “young, dynamic team”, I know that I am not an addressee – adds the expert. – The employer may think that he is open, but the language of the announcement cuts off the entire generations himself before the candidate manages to send his CV.
Invisible and elusive candidates
Employers say: “We are looking for people 50+, but nobody reports.” – They report. They just don't go through the recruitment sieve – experts explain. – And when they get to the conversation, they often don't know how to present themselves, how to tell about yourself. As if they were waiting for the employer to guess what they have to offer.
Agnieszka Operhalska explains that this is usually not a matter of lack of competence, but burnout and loss of her professional identity. – Someone was, for example, an accountant for 20 years, he doesn't like it, but he thinks that this is the only thing he can do. So he is looking for an accounting work, but without enthusiasm. He thinks about the profession, not about his competences.
The Protective Age Act does not help
One of the most frequently reported by employers is the protective age. – If the government decides to a solution in which the employee can voluntarily give up the protective age, it will significantly open the labor market – believes Agnieszka Operalska. – Many employees say that there is no problem with that. This could be the fastest solution to introduce.
Dagmara Szymczak adds: – This act was founded in 1974 is as old as participants of the labor market we are talking about. It should be updated – to give a person before retirement the possibility of declaring the employer that he resigns from this protection for work.
Internships are not just for students
An internship programs are one of the most interesting solutions that were debated during the conference. – The employer may employ a person for a six -month internship financed by the Labor Office – says Agnieszka Operhalska. – The costs are small and the profits are huge: both sides can get to know each other, without pressure and risk.
However, the practice is brutal, reaching this information borders on a miracle. – Communication on the pages of labor offices is complicated, written in administrative language. It is very difficult to find the information you need there – says Dagmara Szymczak. – What should a person who is not so running in searching? – Most offices do not even have profiles on LinkedIn, a key platform for employers. – I tell them: if you want to reach the employer, you should be where he is – explains Agnieszka Operalska.
Disenfered
Labor offices often need help themselves. Employees are overloaded, demotivated and burned, and the new regulations are still waiting for implementation. – The new law has entered, but all these tools and funds related to it are not yet prepared – says Agnieszka Operalska.
The expert explains that the problem lies deeper: – The offices have too little funds for the operational part, among others for payments to their employees, which are often at the minimum level. How is a motivated employee who is frustrated himself? And yet he often meets the aggression from the unemployed who unload their anger on it. Some situations are really terrible – I heard that there are even cases of demolition of offices – adds the expert.
In turn, employers do not treat employment offices as a source of finding a potential employee. – They think that they will find only people without education, with basic skills. And yet people with higher education and a rich CV are also registered in large cities – says Agiensk Operalska. Everyone is left alone.
Non -governmental organizations: The omitted system of the system
The whole system also lacks space for non -governmental organizations. – We are completely overlooked, and yet we have direct contact with people who need work – says Dagmara Szymczak. – We are not labor agencies, but we can organize meetings, reach those whose business does not find.
Dagmara Szymczak gives an example: in senior care there is a lack of about 100,000 employees. – We know people who could do this work. Non -governmental organizations can be such a platform, because they do not apply to such strict fortifications and operate in less stiff frames than public institutions. This allows them to test new ways of employing and reaching the needy.
The Heart and Mind Foundation, Wisdom of Generations, wants to be the initiator of the change. On the one hand, a hub, combining other foundations with business, but also a place that will help people looking for a job to prepare for it.
– At the moment we are talking to the Poviat Labor Office, we are planning to start an internship program in autumn – says Agnieszka Operalska. – Even if someone does not find employment, we will have enough data to analyze why.
Passage strategy instead of pushing
Both experts emphasize how much problem is the lack of pre -retirement strategy in companies. – The system is ruthless: I work today, tomorrow I am unnecessary, I don't know what to do with myself. It would be more human to support the employee in the retirement process, as is done in other countries – says Dagmara Szymczak. – For example, gradually reduce the number of working hours, propose mentoring, implementing younger employees. That it would not be a shock for the employer.
Economically it just pays off. – Recruitments are expensive. It is cheaper to train and stop an experienced person than to conduct a new recruitment – emphasizes Dagmara Szymczak. It does not pay to you – the sooner people retire, the higher the costs for the system.
– Unfortunately, a change in organizational culture is needed for this. Companies must stop treating the pre -retirement age as the employee's shelf life and start perceiving him as a valuable resource for wise use – concludes Agnieszka Operalska.
– Let's change the narrative. It's not about helping someone with goodness of the heart. The point is that we do not lose resources as a society and economy just because the record is obscured by potential. Working in fifty is not a social topic. This is a strategic topic – adds Dagmara Szymczak.
