Older Workers Skills Upgrading and Employability Issues - Essay Example

Older Workers and Lifelong Learning 1. Introduction Older workers skills upgrading and employability issues created an exceptional requirements for vocational teachers’ professional practice. The growing learning needs of older workers and the requirements for lifelong learning transforms vocational practice into an infinite cycle of learning. In the near future, the rapid development in the workplace is expected to demand more from vocational teachers as older workers continually require newer and competitive skills. The following section discusses these needs and educational provisions that can give older workers the specific learning they require. More importantly, it discusses ways on how these educational provisions can best serve the learning requirements of this diverse workforce and ensures their employability and competitiveness in the workplace. 2. The Old Workers and Lifelong Learning It is normally beneficial for most employers to minimise turnovers in their respective organisation thus most of them are trying to keep employees longer. These employees include older workers who may be already suffering poor health or seeking to retire prematurely because of numerous reasons such as poor working condition and lack of skills necessary for newer and complex technologies being introduced at the workplace. Rapid technological change and the increasing effect of globalisation have negative effect on workers particularly those that are aging and with obsolete skills (OECD 2005a, p.125). In other words, as they get old, employees are becoming more vulnerable to employability problems and financial insecurity. A worker for instance who have been hired for a certain skill twenty years ago may be struggling to adapt to new technologies being introduced in his line of work from time to time. He may not be able to use them effectively and being frustrated by the fact that he is becoming increasingly worthless as he gets older. He may be also upset that nobody would hire him anymore since he lacks the necessary qualification and too old for the job. In addition, his health is not competitive enough compared to younger workers whose energy and physical capability is far greater efficient in the eyes of most employers. However, the greatest problem is the pressure being created by difficulties in his existing work due to inadequate skill and the gloomy consequences of retiring at a very early stage. The result of OECD’s study mentioned earlier concerning the difficulties of older workers in the workplace is a sad reality of life. Getting old entails many disadvantage and one of them is surviving the challenges at work. 2.1 Motivating Older Workers for Lifelong Learning Employability of older workers does matter and according to OECD (2001, p.94), the decline in older people’s employment requires a resilient policy because early retirement often leads to old age poverty and increased financial support from government. For this reason, there is a need to understand the link between factors that can affect the employability of older workers such as low educational attainment and inadequate level of skills. One of these links is the connection between older workers and continued or lifelong learning because the workplace is being viewed as the best place for updating their skills. In other words, workers do not have to retire or seek other employment as they can acquire the skills they need while working. The idea according to the OECD report is to encourage these workers to attend training courses and get acquainted with the principle of lifelong learning. For instance, an old factory worker may be dealing with the same work for twenty years or more but suddenly the company introduced a more complex machine that requires some knowledge in computers and other automated system. The result would be obsolescence of skill and redundancy forcing employer to hire people with the necessary qualification. The old worker will then take his premature retirement and probably suffer poverty at old age. Upgrading old workers skills is thus very essential considering their well-being and security in later life. However, this may not be possible if the older worker himself is not keen on pursuing lifelong education and instead choose to retire. Aside from skills upgrading, the problem therefore includes motivating these workers to the positive effect of continuing education and benefits of lifelong learning. 2.2 The Importance of Lifelong Learning for Older Workers According to Shea & Haasen (2006, p.99), lifelong learning can help them survive the rapidly changing working environment and eliminate “age stereotyping” of jobs common in most workplaces. Older workers are commonly assigned to jobs because they are flexible and healthy and not for their skills which in general seems a conditional acceptance and discriminating to older workers (Loretto et al. 2007, p.212). Providing continuing education or lifelong learning can greatly improve older workers lives and outlook in life. For instance, older workers are very good students as according to several studies, these people are still active and very interested in continued education. Lifelong learning therefore can boost their confidence and provide the education and skills they always wanted to have. Moreover, acquiring a particular skill can help them adapt to the changing circumstances at the workplace and prevent premature retirement. Older workers are always at risk of redundancy and unemployment and consequently, they themselves are disheartened to take a job. For instance, in a survey conducted by OECD in 2004 for old workers in the Czech Republic, three-quarters of them are unemployed and have so little chance of finding a job (Hofacker 2010, p.224). For his reason, older workers skills and qualifications must be frequently updated to enhance their competitiveness and increase the potential for employment. Enhancing the skills of older workers is not an isolated issue among government and business enterprises. In fact, it is a common concern with advanced economies particularly those with growing older population. In 2009 for instance, study of older workers in different industrial countries shows that national initiatives for older workers are effective in addressing employability problems. In Finland, employment rate increased for older workers while Japanese companies absorbed more workers 65 years and above. In the Republic of Korea, measures to raise the employment of rate of older workers were taken to enable older workers to work past their retirement age. Common to these initiatives is the promotion and implementation of lifelong learning to enhance adult skills and encouraging older workers to take training courses (International Labour Office 2010, p.40). 2.3 The Benefit of Upgraded Skills The importance of upgrading the skills of older workers is undoubtedly significant as financial difficulties can increase their tendency to retire early and live an impoverished life. According to Keese (2006, p.73), enhancing financial incentives for the age-diverse workforce is only a small part of the solution because one of the major problem faced by older workers are burdensome working conditions due to lack of skills. It is therefore necessary to create learning programs that would fit the learning requirement of older workers (Warmuth 2008, p.14). Older workers should be encouraged to find time for training or get a temporary leave to pursue their training. In general, older workers should seriously consider skills upgrading and participate in lifelong learning that include strengthening and expansion of training opportunities and implementation of well-designed vocational courses built on older workers’ existing qualifications (Sonnet 2004, p.15). 2.4 The Link Between Vocational Practice, Lifelong Learning, and Older Workers Vocational training has long been typically identified with younger age workers and there are very few initiatives from these public institutions that are directly intended for older people (Sonnet 2004, p.114). Initiatives promoting lifelong learning will eventually benefit older workers and improve their well-being in the long run as it will decrease the possibility of skill obsolescence. In Italy for instance, there is a law that directs government to provide vocational training for older workers. In Nordic countries and Switzerland, considerable investment have been made on further education and training even for those who are much older workers (Prinz & Biffl 2005, p.145). Vocational practices are mostly geared towards providing the demands and requirements of the current condition in our socio-economic system (Usher & Edwards p.62) thus it is a good place for older workers to fulfil their learning requirements. Moreover, learning offered in vocational institutions are commonly intended for flexible competencies that constantly upgrading in response to change (Usher & Edwards 2007, p. 63). Vocational practices therefore offer older workers the opportunity to continually grow and ensure their competitiveness anytime in the future. Along with lifelong learning, vocational institutions can undoubtedly help older workers to re-establish their position in the workforce and be among those who are gaining from skills rather than conditional work. As mentioned earlier, older workers are more often offered jobs based on their age and present health rather than their skills and the most probable reason is the lack of competence and skills required for technologically advanced job positions. For instance, an old clerical worker cannot definitely compete with a younger employee with a computer technology certificate since clerical work nowadays is more than just filing and typing but requires some knowledge in databases and desktop processing. Very likely, the old clerical worker would recoil and avoid the competition and let the younger worker take the job. Taking vocational education to upgrade the older workers skills can change the way things are in the workplace. The older worker can now use the skills earned from his continuous lifelong learning courses to confidently compete for the job and earn from skills rather than his or her age. This will not only improve his or her financial security but his or her confidence, eliminate difficulties at work, and reduce the chances of early retirement. The fact that technological and organisation change in workplaces require workers to upgrade or acquire new skills, vocational training and lifelong learning activities must be constantly available to them. Otherwise, the lack of formal education and basic skills may disadvantage workers as they age further in terms of employability, wages, and financial security in later years (Keese 2006, p.73). If ever a certain government consider the needs of older workers in terms of skills upgrading and employment, some considerable reforms are necessary that may include ensuring employment of old people based on their skills instead of their age. As mentioned earlier, aside for the need to upgrade their skills, motivating older workers to consider lifelong learning is another problem. In Korea for instance, one government initiative to ensure employment for older workers with upgraded skills is a reform that requires employers to hire workers up to 64 years of age in exchange for government subsidy. For example, 300,000 won per month will be paid for employers employing 664 old workers age 50 to 64 (OECD 2005c, p.151). The same government also offered low skilled old workers vocational and lifelong learning with an expenditure of over 0.8 trillion won in 2004 alone (OECD 2005c, p.152). These initiatives would remind us of the role of motivation in the process of older workers’ skills upgrading and continued vocational education. In addition, it also reminds us of the fact that none will be possible without the support of government and vocational institutions ready to provide such learning (OECD, 2005b, p.142). Aside from being base on cross-sectoral approach, lifelong learning includes formal and informal learning. It gives strong emphasis on learner-centred teaching thus meeting the learner needs is being given more priority. Moreover, it recognizes the beneficial effect of education on personal development and social cohesion. Continuing vocational training and adult learning that offers the essentials of lifelong learning gives training institutions a new strategic role (Rauner & Maclean 2009. p.306). For instance, teachers are powerful role models and with lifelong learning, they should demonstrate that they are lifelong learners themselves. Capturing the attention of older workers is a challenge for teachers in vocational lifelong learning programmes while keeping assessment and learning together (Centre of Educational Research and Innovation 2000, p.39). According to Bunning (2006, p.114), the challenge of lifelong learning also concerns continues vocational teacher education as the concept in general requires a shift from traditional teacher-centred to learner-centred approach while transforming VET schools into learning organisations. This continuing education will provide the foundation to meet the challenges of adult education and the reality of working life. It takes into consideration the concept of lifelong learning in terms of comprehensiveness and coherence particularly in adult teaching methods (OECD 2002, p.96). Lifelong learning is no longer a new approach in education and training but a guiding principle for provision and participation in learning requirements that includes innovation in teaching particularly in non-formal learning (Nijhof et al. 2003, p.149). 3. How best these educational provisions can support the learning needs of older workers. Considering the various information contained in the preceding sections, educational provisions such a lifelong learning and other vocational training courses can effectively support learning needs of older workers. However, to provide such learning needs entails several important course of action that must be taken which includes motivating the older workers to take in the principle of continuous education. Clearly, a programme for skills upgrading will not succeed if older workers are hesitating and not interested in pursuing further education. Taking a specific course of action to motivate or encourage older workers to take part in further education is as important as upgrading their skills and ensuring their employability. Another consideration must be given to the continuous upgrading of vocational teachers skills particularly in lifelong learning teaching methods. Another is constant government support and employers willingness to support older workers needs for employment and development within the workplace. More importantly, older workers lifelong learning needs must be fully supported by the vocational institutions themselves by providing adequate resources, more vocational courses, and provision for flexible class schedule designed specifically for older workers. 3.1 Motivational initiative The primary institutions that should take this initiative are the government and employers. This is because the government should be concern about its aging population’s welfare and take action whenever required. At this point, the government should spearhead efforts to secure older workers employability. Along with various employers, government can take the first move in encouraging older workers to pursue further education and upgrade their skills by providing incentives and others. Employers on the other hand may take the initiative of giving their older workers an ‘educational leave’ of some sort to give its aging workforce adequate time for learning. These initiatives would certainly encourage those that are hesitating due to absences they would incur or those thinking that their employer is not interested in their welfare. 3.2 Continuous Teacher Education Considering the reality that the principle of lifelong learning is actually suggesting endless education in various age levels, it is only sensible for vocational teachers to upgrade their knowledge and teaching skills for the benefit of their students. For instance, an older worker taking a specific skills upgrading course today may come back sometime in the future with new skills requirement because technology in the workplace changed. Certainly, teachers and vocational institution that remains stagnant for a considerable time cannot offer any solution and once again the older worker will suffer the same skill and employability problems. Once it is started, lifelong learning being offered by vocational institutions should be supported by continuous teachers’ education and development of new and relevant courses. As discussed, lifelong learning particularly for older workers is specific courses that directly applicable to the workplace thus it should remain current and aligned with actual work requirements as dictated by technology and economy. 3.3 Support from various external stakeholders In any endeavour particularly when it involves one large group in our society, assistance of various stakeholders are valuable. In the case of older workers continuing education and skills upgrading, the support of government and their employers is the most important. This is because any initiative that does not have the machinery and legislative support will be an exercise in futility. For instance, the government’s labour department and legislative branches can influence how employers would react to the older workers employability problems. Some employers may not be too eager to support lifelong learning but the presence of a law supporting such initiative can alter their decision. In the same manner, the support of the department of education can influence the decision of other institutions particularly those that are responsible for government finances and public welfare. Non-governmental institutions may also take some initiative and support older workers continuing if they are aware that such actions is supported by law and government. For instance, Italy and Korea succeed in their lifelong learning initiative because it is supported by legislation and government. There is no indication that such initiative cannot work in other industrialised country like Australia. In fact, there is high potential for success because lifelong learning in vocational institutions is already supported and being practiced in the country and only needs small adjustment. 3.4 Commitment from vocational institutions Although many would play a vital role in upgrading the skills and enhancing the employability of older workers, the real work is in the hands of the vocational institutions. These are entities and people that would be directly responsible for the success of the whole programme thus their commitment is very important. As discussed earlier, one of the most important initiatives that these institutions can take is provide a framework for continuous vocational teachers’ education. More importantly, they should be committed enough to provide the necessary resources and offer courses that are updated and directly applicable to the workplace. Lifelong learning is never ending education for all ages thus institutions should never get tired and continually pursue further enhancement to their courses and facilities as well. 4. Conclusion Problems in the employability of older workers are generally the direct result of obsolete skills thus skills upgrading is the primary concern of most governments. Although the issue is complex and requires a number of considerations particularly those factors affecting early retirement and the real situations being faced by older workers in the workplace, the most prominent root of the problem is the rapid technological advancement and changing organisational structure. Lifelong learning can best support the learning needs of older workers if the programme is supported by various important stakeholders such as government, employers, and vocational institutions. These supports include legislations and government incentives, and commitment from various vocational institutions. More importantly, educational provisions like lifelong learning must be supported by continuous teachers’ education and training as determined by the development occurring in the workplace. 5. 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