Discrimination of Older Workers in Germany: Obstacles and Options for the Integration into Employment

Abstract

The employment prospects of older workers in Germany are widely endangered because of age discrimination. The main indicator concerning recruitment is that from the age of 45 on the difficulties in finding a new job rise extraordinarily and, accordingly, the duration of unemployment rises. Concerning further training, there is a lack of participation by older workers in vocational training and, additionally, they face numerous risks in the deterioration of their skills. Given the long-term implications of the aging labor force, employers must adapt their approaches to recruiting and training older workers to prevent a further loss of skills and knowhow. A comprehensive strategy for integrating older workers and overcoming age barriers in employment is required. To promote recruitment, job-placement programs should be linked more closely to companies and public programs should be targeted to older unemployed workers. To promote further training of older workers, the workplace needs to create a learning environment, introduce a greater variety of tasks, and develop training schemes.