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A new national strategy for vocational education and training (VET) for 2004/2010 (indexed at TD/ANTA 73.11) was agreed in principle by Ministers in June 2003 and the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) is working with its partners to develop an action plan for implementing the Strategy. The first of 12 strategies in the Strategy is ‘Increase participation and achievement, particularly by existing workers’. Mature age workers are seen as a priority group amongst this cohort. On 15 September 2003, a roundtable discussion involving a range of interested parties was held to consider the issues involved in increasing VET participation and achievement for mature age workers and to suggest a way forward. This ‘ideas for action’ paper builds on those discussions. It invites comments from all interested people, groups and organisations on any aspect of this paper. Submitted comments and ideas will be used to refine one or more national actions to form a part of the first of a series of rolling Action Plans for the National Strategy for VET: 2004-2010.

This paper is also one of the ‘think pieces’ that formed part of phase 2 of the high level review of training packages. The reports from phases 1 and 2 are indexed at TD/ANTA 74.04 and TD/ANTA 75.19. The ANTA-commissioned ‘think pieces’ are indexed from TD/ANTA 75.20 to TD/ANTA 75.23 and from TD/ANTA 75.29 to TD/ANTA 75.31. Show less

This study explores the relevance of the kaleidoscope career model (KCM) to women’s later life career development. Qualitative interview data were gathered from 14 women in both the ‘truly’ late career and bridge employment periods using a longitudinal design. The relevance of authenticity, balance, and challenge - central parameters in the KCM - is explored, along with the particular meanings associated with those parameters. Results demonstrate that all three parameters have relevance for older working women. In addition, as compared to studies of younger women, there were several unique meanings associated with the idea of authenticity. To a somewhat lesser extent, this was also the case with balance. The meanings of challenge were notably more consistent with those found in younger samples. Practical implications of considering the KCM parameters in reference to employee retention, combating stereotypes pertaining to age, and meeting older employees’ needs for fulfilling work are also described.

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Current gerontological knowledge supports the fact that many adult and older adult workers with strong skill levels can successfully be updated and trained. They can also successfully make the transition to retirement with flexible options. They may need to have more supportive career placement situations, additional training in order to remain competitive, and assistance in planning for a successful retirement. However, this support is not age specific because it can also benefit workers at all ages by providing sophisticated hiring approaches, training and retirement planning programs targeting older workers. The recent downturn in the economy affects workers at all ages, regardless of their career stage (that is retirees, people who are about to retire, or those individuals who have just started their career). However, the available responses and options are quite different. The life span developmental approach suggests that individuals vary in career development and processes depending on where they are positioned in terms of their life cycle.

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This guide examines the myths and barriers that challenge many employers when considering mature aged workers and suggests steps an employer can take to resolve skills and labour shortages by taking advantage of the existing talent in the mature aged workforce. Show less

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a new Nordic survey on social partners' policy and practice in regards to older workers. The goal of the survey was to find out to what extent the social partners in the Nordic countries have developed policies and outlined strategies, which explicitly address the demographic change and promote opportunities for lifelong learning and career development among their senior members (45+)

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Using a panel of new firms and their employees, this paper studies the promotion opportunities for older workers within the same firm. Survival analysis suggests that younger employees experience shorter times to promotion than older workers and, therefore, the latter face a smaller likelihood of promotion. Although men are promoted more often than women, empirical results show that women have shorter survival times to promotion than men. Also, previous promotions are stronger determinants of subsequent ones and this finding provides support to the evidence on promotion 'fast-tracks'.

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Since the last recession, it is usually argued that older workers are less affected by the economic downturn because their unemployment rate rose less than the one of prime-age workers. This view is a myth: older workers are more sensitive to the business cycle. [The authors] document volatilities of worker flows and hourly wage across age groups on [current population survey] CPS data. [The authors] find that old workers' job flows are characterized by a higher responsiveness to business cycles than their younger counterparts. In contrast, their wage cyclicality is lower than prime-age workers'. Beyond this empirical contribution, [the authors] show that a life-cycle Mortensen and Pissarides (1994) model is well suited to explain these facts: older workers' shorter work-life expectancy endogenously reduces their outside options and leads their wages to be less sensitive to the business cycle. Thus, in a market where wage adjustments are small, quantities vary a lot: this is the case for older workers, whereas the youngest behave like infinitively-lived agents. Our theoretical results point out that Shimer (2005)'s view on the [Mortensen-Pissarides] MP model is consistent with prime-age workers' labor market while aging endogenously introduces real wage rigidities, allowing to match what [the authors] observe for old workers, without specific assumptions as in Hagendorn and Manovskii (2008).

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Although there are some estimates of the incidence of late learning and the economic rewards achieved by those in possession of formally recognised qualifications, little is known about the personal or family characteristics associated with those engaged in late learning, the associated costs and benefits, or even whether the type of qualification or the method by which the qualification is undertaken is important. This paper illustrates that approximately one in three of the hours of education and training received by working-age individuals in the United Kingdom are attributable to late learners. The implication of these findings is that even though there is no earnings payoff from undertaking late learning, there may be benefits in the form of improved labour market outcomes and that lifelong learning appears crucial in counteracting the obsolescence of existing education and training. The paper also illustrates that 'learning leads to learning'.

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This chapter aims to provide a summary of themes emerging from the preceding chapters and to identify fresh research agendas. It sets out lessons for the social and labour market actors and for older workers themselves in responding to demographic trends.

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