Social Partners: out with Early Exit, in with Learning and Career Development for Senior Employees?

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to present findings from a Nordic survey on social partners' policy and practice in regards of the older workers. The survey aimed to find out to what extent the social partners have developed policies and outlined strategies, which explicitly address the demographic change and promote opportunities for lifelong learning and career development among their senior members (45+). The survey was carried out as a part of the work in the network Older workers in the Nordic countries (Own) supported by the Nordic Council. The findings showed, on one hand, that while some social partners have started very good work, for many others the issues of lifelong learning and opportunities for career development for older workers are not on their agenda. The study concludes that there is a need for a more active approach from social partners to provide support and encouragement for learning and development for their senior members.