Ageing knowledge workers in the european knowledge economy: a resource we cannot afford to lose

Abstract

The current economic crisis is generating a paradigm shift in the European job market. In this change the needs of traditionally disadvantaged and marginalised sections of the population are well documented. However within this change there are sub populations who are perceived to be immune to the threats of unemployment or whose situation is not explored. Ageing knowledge workers are one such group. Knowledge workers comprise over 108 million or 49% of European workers. In a fast changing economy these workers have been displaced by a number of factors, discussed in this paper, which contributes to a new level of marginalization. Further the skills and knowledge capacity of this population is being lost to the European economy and to active engagement at a more local level. With increasing longevity and pressures on welfare and pension systems the cost of retiring highly skilled knowledge workers while they are still active is being questioned. This paper seeks to map the factors impinging on the decisions that ageing knowledge workers make as they approach life transitions: unemployment, retirement, displacement. This paper suggests that, while further research and dialogue is needed, there is adequate understanding to recognise that the ageing knowledge workers are a resource that the modern world cannot afford, for both social and economic reasons, to lose.