The report confirms a known reality, the challenge posed by the aging of the population, to add a new element such as that the older workforce benefits the economy and increases the resilience of companies in the face of crises. That is to say, companies with older employees achieve more sales, more investment and more productivity in times of crisis.
Based on these parameters, the study concludes that it is essential to keep older workers in the labor market, which can be achieved by delaying the retirement age and making early retirement difficult or outright null and void.
In the study on “The impact of age on the labor market and on the resilience of companies in Spain”, prepared by Oxford Economics and presented this morning in Madrid by the International Center on Aging (Cenie), it stands out the added value that the older workforce provides, compared to the widespread views about their lower performance.
Specifically, it is highlighted that Spain has a low employment rate among people aged 55 and over, and urgent measures are called for to increase the participation of older workers in the labor market.
The most groundbreaking thesis of the report is the superior contribution of older workers to the economy. It is analyzed in the period of the financial crisis and the consequent economic recession that Spain suffered starting in 2008. The conclusion is that in this period (2008-2013) the older workforce helped Spanish companies to make more sales. , records higher employment growth rates, had a positive effect on productivity and led to an increase in the net investment rate. The explanation for this better behavior of older workers is based on the accumulated experience of these workers, which shows their usefulness especially in times of crisis.
It is noted, for example, that companies with an average age one year older than the workforce generated an increase of 0.8 percentage points in accumulated sales growth, five years after the start of the 2008 crisis; and also an increase of 0.5 points in terms of employment growth in the same period of time.
The report begins with a description of the aging of the Spanish population, which will lead to a dependency rate of almost 60% in 2050. That is, at that time for every three people of working age there will be almost two people aged 65 or further. A major economic challenge, given that an increasingly smaller number of workers will have to finance an increasingly larger group of retirees.
Given this perspective, the report calls on political authorities to increase the period of working life. One option is to extend the retirement age, which in Spain at an effective level is below the OECD average, and also consider “increasing the costs of early retirement for employers or directly canceling early retirement,” says the study.
"Early retirement must be discouraged, with more limited access regimes," said Oxford Economics economist Shruti Singh when presenting the report. A recommendation that has been refuted by the unions in the same presentation of the report. Carlos Bravo, secretary of public policies of CC.OO., has stated that "early retirement in Spain is not a problem." Bravo has pointed out that the current data on the effective retirement age is higher than those included in the report and further insists that there is a problem of cultural conception. "You don't want to hire older people," he said.
The report also proposes improving the situation of older workers, their work environment and their training; and ensure that companies are willing to retain and hire them. This would be achieved by strengthening legislation that prohibits age discrimination and with economic incentives for hiring.
