22.11.2022

MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE WORKING AFTER RETIREMENT

The tendency for the Bulgarian to work after retirement is becoming more and more distinct. In 2018, pensioners with a personal pension who are working reached 295,500 people, and for the period 2014-2018, the number of working pensioners increased by about 30 percent. These are the trends that are naturally imposed due to the demographic crisis, growing into a catastrophe that we have not yet realized, commented Svetlana Doncheva - head of the "Center for Project Management" at the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA).

These days, at an international conference, part of the results of the project "Inspired by experience: Longer together - a path to success" were presented, financed by the European Social Fund through the operational program "Development of human resources", which is being worked on in the period 2019-2021

The processing industry, education and healthcare are the three sectors in which the aging of the labor force is felt most strongly, noted Doncheva. "Arena of youth" are the IT sector, financial and insurance sectors.

The lack of labor force is felt in almost all spheres of economic life, and the lack of highly qualified specialists directly affects the competitiveness of Bulgarian companies. In just ten years, according to the last population census, the number of the working population in Bulgaria has decreased by 415,000 people. This trend will deepen if there are no adequate policies.

Generation T

The positive trend of increasing the average life expectancy naturally leads to an increase in working life as well. For 2022, in Bulgaria, men who have reached the age of 64 years and 5 months with 39 years and 2 months of service, and women who have reached 61 years and 10 months with 36 years of service have the right to receive a pension for insurance service and age and 2 months.

Smoothly until 2037, according to the age criterion, both sexes will equalize and retire at 65 years. This process of an increasingly long working life, combined with the negative demographic processes that lead to a decrease in the total number of working population, determines the increasing importance of the so-called generation T (the traditionalists), commented the expert. These are the people who grew up in the period of the establishment of socialism and the state planned economy and who have to extend their stay at the workplace because there is no one to replace them.

She pointed out that this problem is particularly sensitive in traditional industries, such as manufacturing, and added that it will deepen. The demographic replacement rate in Bulgaria has an extremely negative value - 69, which means that for every 100 people who leave the working age, 69 are replaced, the remaining 31 are not, and they are usually replaced by people who are already in Retirement age. According to the expert, we will increasingly see working pensioners.

The other industries that account for large numbers of working people, both pre- and post-retirement age, are education and healthcare. The shortage of personnel in health care is appalling, and in education, despite the fact that much has been done in recent years to make this profession more attractive to young people, there are still not enough positive results. The share of teachers in pre-retirement and post-retirement age is still high, one of the reasons being precisely the lack of young specialists to replace them.

Working after retirement is not so scary

Actually, according to experts, working past retirement age isn't so scary. This is a matter of personal perception and need or need, but in order for this to actually happen, it is necessary to provide the appropriate working conditions, tailored to the workplace needs of the older generations. These people become the most valuable employees and they must be retained.

This is starting to be realized by more and more employers, the expert said. The most expensive measures to implement are related to the adaptation of workplaces and improvement of working conditions to the needs of generation T. Other measures that are recommended to be included in the company's internal programs are related to the imposition of a new understanding, that the specifics of different generations should be used to create a working environment that highlights the strengths of each generation, promotes mutual understanding and solidarity between different generations in the interest of common business goals.

Youth versus experience

Usually, in a work environment where people of different generations have to work in a team, conflicts are related to attitudes to work and new technologies. They are also the most common prerequisite for the occurrence of discrimination in the workplace. It is not news that older people have a harder time accepting technological innovations, while their younger colleagues absorb them faster. At some point, the traditional hierarchy breaks down and young people advance more in the profession, because they learn technology faster, and then prejudices are created against older people, that they are no longer fit for work, the expert's observations show.

According to her, the task of team leaders is to create an atmosphere of solidarity, because in fact, Generation T does not mind learning and absorbing technical innovations, but they need enough time for this. The expert's observations show that older employees prefer not to go to traditional courses to improve digital skills, but rather want it to happen in the form of an exchange of experience at their workplace and through company training.

Conflict in the multigenerational workplace is also generated from the old to the young, born of the understanding of Generation T that success and rising in the hierarchy come after many years of hard work, and the misunderstanding of the young that success and promotion can happen "in one night".

Regarding the motivational factors that drive different generations, the research debunks a myth about younger workers. For representatives of Generation Z (born between 1993 and 2001), not the amount of remuneration, but meaningful work is of primary importance. For them to feel engaged, the work must be challenging and varied. They are looking for exciting projects and ventures, causes to which they can give all their time, energy and passion.

Generation T in Europe

The eDigiStars project, in which 19 other organizations from 8 Danube countries are partners, aimed at increasing the digital skills of Generation T, is based on the common understanding that, regardless of nationality, older workers have their place in the labor market even in digital technology professions. The needs of generation T in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are similar and require similar measures - appropriate motivation, adapted trainings and learning contents, and a recognized certification system to determine the quality of training. Above all, however, there is a change in the attitudes of older employees, who must realize that modern work requires continuous improvement and upgrading of existing knowledge and skills.