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Ageing workforce

Europe's ageing population raises many challenges for policymakers in relation to employment, working conditions, living standards and welfare. It has led to concerns over the sustainability of pension systems and the supply of labour. Promoting employment opportunities for an ageing workforce requires new thinking at company, national and EU level.

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From July to December 2024, Eurofound supports the work of Hungary's presidency of the Council of the EU, providing valuable research results on specific topics linked with the presidency priorities.

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Eurofound research

Eurofound has a long history of expertise in issues facing the ageing workforce. Research since the 1990s has focused on labour market participation, job performance, working conditions and work preferences of older workers in the policy context of Europe's changing demographic profile. Work has also centred on public support and company-level initiatives fostering older workers’ employment. It has looked at older women workers, highlighting the increasing employment rates for this group and their increasing proportion of the workforce, especially in the 55–64 age group.

Survey data

Eurofound’s major surveys provide a range of data on the situation of older workers. The sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS 2015) looks at how older workers compare across different dimensions of job quality. Although older workers are less likely to become unemployed than younger ones, data show that older workers feel that if they became unemployed, they would not find a similarly paid new job and would even find it difficult to re-enter the labour market. Using EWCS 2015 data, Eurofound has explored the factors influencing the working conditions of workers of different ages, as well as working conditions and worker's health. 

A study based on Eurofound’s fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) looks at the characteristics of the older workforce and of work at different ages, as well as the factors that make work sustainable for an ageing workforce: good working conditions, physical and mental well-being, and work–life balance.

Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) offers age-related findings in relation to various dimensions of quality of life in Europe. An analysis of work preferences after 50 draws on findings from the EQLS 2012 and shows that many older workers prefer to work fewer hours even after taking into account their financial needs. Facilitating this closer alignment of working hours with preferences can enable and motivate people to work longer.

Longer working lives

Recently, Eurofound joined three other EU agencies in looking at age-friendly work in Europe, the policy challenges associated with the ageing workforce and innovative solutions.

Many workers are unable or not motivated to work until the statutory retirement age. However, there is also a group which is able and willing to work beyond it. Eurofound has investigated this increasing phenomenon of taking up work after retirement.

Recent research has focused on extending working lives through flexible retirement schemes, looking in particular at partial retirement schemes that can facilitate this. Mid-career reviews can also contribute to longer working lives. Research has examined how they can help to clarify workers’ options for remaining in work until a later retirement age. It highlights different instruments developed by companies to retain ageing workers.

Other research documents national and sectoral initiatives by governments and social partners to retain older workers in the labour market, including financial inducements and enhanced conditions. In an earlier project, age management initiatives introduced before and after the recession were analysed to highlight good practice in companies in Europe.

Resources

Key outputs

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This report uses European Working Conditions Survey data to examine working conditions and their implications for worker’s health. Ensuring the sustainability of work in the context of ageing populations implies...

13 May 2019
Publication
Research report
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Nearly 37,000 people in 33 European countries (28 EU Member States and 5 candidate countries) were interviewed in the last quarter of 2016 for the fourth wave of the European...

23 January 2018
Publication
Research report
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Demographic change is increasing the number of older workers in employment in Europe. In order for all of them to work beyond 55 or even after the pension age, it...

21 December 2017
Publication
Research report

EU context

Despite substantial growth in the employment rates of older workers over the past decade in many EU countries, the European Commission’s Joint Employment Report 2017 highlights the potential to increase these rates further. In 2016, the employment rate for older workers aged 55–64 in the EU stood at 55.3%, compared with 66.6% for those aged 15–64 as a whole. The increase has been largest among older women.

The European Pillar of Social Rights provides a framework for helping labour markets adapt to new challenges while promoting fairness and solidarity between the generations. It emphasises the right to a working environment adapted to a worker’s professional needs to enable them to prolong their participation in the labour market. Moreover, the recent European social partners’ autonomous agreement on active ageing and inter-generational approach commits to making it easier for older workers to actively participate and stay longer in the labour market.

 

European Industrial Relations Dictionary 

Eurofound expert(s)

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Hans Dubois is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. His research topics include housing, over-indebtedness, healthcare, long-term care, social...

Senior research manager,
Social policies research unit
Publications results (101)

The various economic and social shocks of the past decade and a half – most recently the COVID-19 pandemic – have ongoing consequences for the living standards and prospects of Europeans, and sometimes these outcomes have been uneven across age groups. Social policies – such as those in the areas of

19 December 2023

This report captures the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the quality of life of older citizens, including the impact on their well-being, finances, employment and social inclusion. It explores the effects on the use of care services and older people’s reliance on other support. The report presents

28 January 2022

One of the most striking developments of the last half-century has been the huge rise in the labour market participation of women. Two out of every three net new jobs created over the last two decades in the EU were taken by women. At the same time, sharply rising employment rates among older

14 December 2021

This flagship report summarises the key findings of Eurofound’s research on working conditions conducted over the programming period 2017–2020. It maps the progress achieved since 2000 in improving working conditions and examines whether all workers have benefited equally from positive change. It

26 February 2021

This report uses European Working Conditions Survey data to examine working conditions and their implications for worker’s health. Ensuring the sustainability of work in the context of ageing populations implies a greater number of people in employment who can remain in the workforce for longer. The

13 May 2019

Much policy is developed and operationalised through the prism of age, and addressing differences in the economic and social circumstances of different age groups is an ongoing concern of policymakers. This policy brief looks at inequalities in the quality of life of Europeans across six age groups.

05 February 2019

Nearly 37,000 people in 33 European countries (28 EU Member States and 5 candidate countries) were interviewed in the last quarter of 2016 for the fourth wave of the European Quality of Life Survey. This overview report presents the findings for the EU Member States. It uses information from

23 January 2018

Demographic change is increasing the number of older workers in employment in Europe. In order for all of them to work beyond 55 or even after the pension age, it is necessary to identify what are the factors preventing or helping workers to have a sustainable work.

21 December 2017

This article explores the views of workers about the issue of extending working life. It highlights differences in the share of workers regarding the age they would like to work to and the ability to work until 60 in terms of employment status, sex and country.

28 September 2017
Publication
Research report

The ageing of the EU’s population and workforce has implications for employment, working conditions, living standards and welfare. This report draws on the expertise of four EU Agencies in their respective areas, covers the policy challenges associated with the ageing workforce and considers

29 June 2017

Online resources results (133)

Netherlands: Latest working life developments – Q4 2017

Employer organisations’ plans for improving working conditions and wages for disabled workers, criticism of the system calculating the pension age, and career advice for older workers are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working

Hungary: Latest working life developments – Q2 2017

Publication of a study on the minimum wage, the introduction of pensioners’ cooperatives to reduce labour and skill shortages, and a proposal to extend working time are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Hungary in

Estonia: New training schemes aim to counter unemployment

Training schemes to prevent unemployment and support employment will be available for Estonian employees from May 2017. The social partners are hopeful that these will help to address the issues of an ageing labour force and skills mismatch.

EU level: Latest working life developments – Q1 2017

Issues related to the European Commission’s proposal on the European Pillar of Social Rights, as well as some developments in social dialogue at EU level, are the main topics of interest in this article. This update reports on the latest developments in working life at EU level in the first quarter

Austria: Study examines seniority principle in the labour market

A study of the problems older employees face in the Austrian labour market shows that their age is the biggest hindrance to getting a job. The study debunks the common belief that older workers’ problems are caused by the ‘seniority principle’: the fact that the longer workers are employed, the more

Czech Republic: Average age of employees is increasing

The average age of Czech employees has increased by 3.7 years in the last 20 years.

Luxembourg: New Labour Code measures for older workers

A bill modifying Luxembourg’s Labour Code and introducing measures on ageing policies was introduced on 3 April 2014. The aim of the bill is to ‘improve the place of older workers in the economic system’, helping them to stay in work or return to the labour market.

Sustainable employment and occupational profile

Keeping people in employment until retirement age is a hot topic in the Netherlands, as it is across the rest of the European Union. A series of Dutch studies shows that workers in some sectors are more likely to be able and willing to work until retirement age and others less so, such as craft and

Study points to discrimination in recruiting process

A study has looked at the question of ethic, age and gender discrimination in the recruiting processes of the Austrian labour market.


Blogs results (6)

There’s a demographic shift sweeping Europe: people are living longer and working longer. Older workers, however, face significant labour market barriers.

25 January 2024
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Motivated workers have higher levels of engagement, better health and are able to work longer. Improving motivation at work is therefore a key component in meeting the challenges of Europe’s ageing workforce and improving the EU’s long-term competitiveness on a global scale. This means that

20 March 2019
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Over the last decade, European labour markets have seen a surge in the number of older workers in work and a continuous decline in their unemployment rates. A lot of young and middle-aged workers lost their jobs in the Great Recession, but not so the older age group. This favourable state of affairs

15 November 2018
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In this article, Jean-Marie Jungblut looks at the health of careers in Europe. He argues that, since the average length of the most important job in a person’s life is over 20 years, time should be put aside in the middle of a career to check the fit between the worker and the job. Different

21 June 2018
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In this blog piece, originally published in Social Europe, Eurofound Research Officer Daniel Molinuevo looks at the service providers delivering long-term care to older people in Europe.

18 January 2018
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There are limits to the effectiveness of member states’ pension reforms. Europe, it’s often said, is experiencing a worsening ageing crisis. European governments grappling with this and the related unsustainability of many pension schemes have taken measures to keep older workers longer in

26 September 2016
Data results (2)

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