Many older people experience real difficulties in finding work or even keeping their job once they get to the age of 50. In addition few have had equal access to training and career development, a vital issue with the extensive technological changes occurring and the consequent restructuring of the labour force. Each person is affected differently by these changes and there are no easy changes. Keeping up to date, being flexible and retraining are part of the answer. Elsewhere we deal with the procedures to follow if you feel you have been discriminated against on the basis of age.  

While government, employers and trades unionists until recently supported early retirement to deal with the substantial technical changes occurring making many jobs redundant or needing new skills, that option is no longer a preferred one as governments recognise the impending shortages of skilled manpower in some sectors of their economy, the waste of human resources and the high cost  to the pension system. In Greece the labour market is really difficult for older people given the overall  quite high rates of unemployment and underemployment – often hidden in the very high rates of self employment. We have to get all the social partners to recognise that older workers need opportunities for training and career development, something which is relatively rare . Providing decent working conditions, recognising the value of older workers,  developing more flexible work contracts to attract older workers, are some ways of keeping older people  actively involved.

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