It gets difficult again after 60
Over 50s find it easier to find a job again
The unemployment figures allow a surprising conclusion: Over-50s find it easier than younger people to find a new job. The shortage of skilled workers in the Swiss economy defuses the old age guillotine – but does not eliminate it.
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Older employees have better job prospects in Switzerland. (icon picture)
Nicholas ImfeldEditor Economics
If you are older than 50 and change or lose your job, you will have trouble finding a new job. This is the prejudice that could be substantiated with figures for a long time. But the tide seems to have turned. It is even easier for older people to find a job than for younger people.
The unemployment rate among 50 to 64 year olds has fallen from over 3 percent to 1.9 percent in the past two years. This is below the rate for 25 to 49 year olds, which is 2 percent.
Shortage of skilled workers defused old age guillotine
A study by the outplacement company von Rundstedt & Partner, which Blick reported on at the end of September, comes to the same conclusion. “The survey did not identify any statistically relevant differences in terms of hierarchical level, function types, age, gender and level of employment,” it says. “In particular, it has been shown that, contrary to public perception, over 50s are not generally disadvantaged, at least when it comes to layoffs.”
The age guillotine has shifted. “In some industries, you were already considered old on the job market at 50,” said Pascal Scheiwiller (49), CEO of Rundstedt & Partner, to Blick. “Thanks to the shortage of skilled workers, the threshold is now much higher, between 58 and 60 years.”
Nevertheless, older people remain disadvantaged
The Avenir 50 Plus association, which advocates for the labor market integration of older workers, complains that the low unemployment rate among 50 to 64-year-olds is misleading. For those over 60, the value climbs to 3 percent, said Heidi Joos (67), managing director of Avenir 50 Plus, to Blick. “Those who have been excluded and all those who take part in an employment program are not even included.”
According to Joos, this is important because people over the age of 50 are much more likely to be long-term unemployed. Responsible for the age discrimination are above all the higher pension fund contributions. “You should start thinking about protection against dismissal for older employees,” she demands. In individual sectors, such regulations already exist via collective labor agreements.