Whilst many people have undergone further training or retraining during the corona crisis, strikingly, these are mostly young people or those under 50 years old whereas the age group above this is less inclined to do so. Why is this? And why is it important that they also continue to develop?
Wendy Simonse (50) works as an energy-saving consultant for the national Dutch government and attended a training course on inclusive labor organisations which her employer was willing to pay for. She was allowed to do this during working hours and was given the opportunity to work temporarily in another department with the Diversity and Inclusion team.
“I noticed that it touches my heart when people are treated unfairly in other companies and do not have equal opportunities in the labor market, for whatever reason,” she says.
No more ambitions
It is smart to look to the future in your early fifties, like Simonse, according to Beatrice van der Heijden, Professor of Strategic Human Resource Management at Radboud University. She says that although one may be very satisfied with work at present, it is highly likely that the job will be automated away in a few years.
“If you get stuck at 58, you’re in big trouble. The age discrimination then is more intense than when you are in your late forties”, she says.
According to her, you can also distinguish yourself from other people over 50 by having up-to-date knowledge and skills.
According to research by Intermediair and Springest conducted among a thousand respondents in the Netherlands, the majority of those over 50 did not seem to be interested in attending a course or undergoing training. The corona pandemic may have fueled the enthusiasm of some of the workforce, but not that of older workers. Almost a quarter of the respondents aged between 18 and 67 had undergone additional training or retraining in the past year but older respondents (aged 50-67) could not see a particular need to do so.
Different experience of time
Why is it that people over 50 are less likely to want to change?
“During the midlife period, many people’s perspective on time changes,” explains Beatrice van der Heijden. “As an eighteen-year-old, you might think, ‘How nice, a Spanish course, that will probably come in handy at some point’. Older employees want to be able to apply new knowledge and skills directly to their work and if it doesn’t fit, they don’t see the point of attending it.”
Rob Witjes, head of the labor market information and advice department at the Netherlands Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), has another explanation for why certain of those aged over 50 are less eager to learn:
“Many workers of that age are satisfied with their job and colleagues, loyal to their employer and they work hard. Because of this, they may feel that they will be needed,” he says.
Employees over 50 and motivated
According to Witjes, employers should encourage their employees who are over 50 to continue to develop their skills.
“That is also in their own interest because otherwise, employees will stagnate and eventually malfunction,” he says.
Van der Heijden of the Radboud University agrees:
“Employers prefer to invest in younger employees because they think they can reap the benefits for longer, but that is not the case. The turnover among younger employees is much higher and older employees are therefore much more loyal to their employer. The chance that older employees will quit is much smaller.”
The nature of jobs now changes so rapidly that attending courses and continuing to develop oneself has become a necessary factor, believes van der Heijden. For all ages. The time when one pursued a qualification then practiced a trade before eventually serving one’s time in the same occupation are long gone.
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