Seniors are getting back in the game
Long relegated to the margins of the job market, seniors are gradually finding their place in French companies. Driven by social, economic and managerial changes, they now represent a valuable resource, combining experience, stability and transmission. What if senior employees were to become the strong link in the transformation of organizations?
A statistical upturn… but still timid
For several months now, interest in senior profiles on the job market seems to have been growing, although employability levels remain below those of our European neighbors.
INSEE and DARES, in the 2024 edition of their study “Emploi, chômage, revenus du travail”, point out that between 2018 and 2023, the activity rate for seniors rose: +2.5% for 55–59-year-olds (80.1%) and +6.2% for 60–64-year-olds (41.6%), a 50-year record.
Despite this, France remains almost 5 points behind the European average.
Pension reform and long-term outlook
This upturn can be explained in part by the recent pension reform, which extended the legal retirement age and lengthened the working life. According to INSEE projections, the activity rate among 55–59-year-olds could reach 61% by 2030, or even 71% by 2070.
Beyond these optimistic projections, another phenomenon is accentuating the return of seniors to the job market: the arrival of generations Y and Z, whose codes are very different from those of their predecessors, are destabilizing existing managerial models.
Generations Y and Z: the new work codes
Has the value of work changed?
No, it’s simply the organization of work that has changed over the last thirty years, and the global health crisis of 2020 has completed this transformation. Teleworking, which until now has met with a mixed response in companies, initially became the standard by obligation, and is now firmly establishing itself as a new way of working, with all its attendant pitfalls.
Today, between Full Remote, the most radical version of telecommuting, and the various day-to-day arrangements, the social bond within the company is weakening or even breaking down, leading to the disappearance of what used to be the strength of certain groups, SMEs and SMIs – the feeling of belonging.
Above all, the younger generations are looking for meaning in their commitment, whether to society or the environment. They are driven by a desire to change things profoundly, and to influence a system that often dilutes initiative-taking and decision-making. They are breaking codes and gradually imposing disruptive working methods on companies, which are not always suited to matrix organizations.
Teleworking and disengagement: the crisis of the social link
The COVID crisis in 2020 led to violent upheavals in organizations, with a gradual loosening of hierarchical links and a seizure of “transmission belts”, favoring technology over people, with the result that sharing and exchange have become impoverished within many companies, whatever their size.
What can be done today to prevent the gap from widening any further?
The return of the “mentor”: a key role for seniors
The famous “transmission belt”, the transmitter of knowledge, the mentor, the trainer, the coach.
Who better to play this role than the Senior !!!!
Of course, for years, senior employees have been portrayed as resistant to change and languages, too expensive, not mobile enough, not adaptable enough, too rigid. While there was some truth in this, it was not appropriate to generalize about them, as some human resources specialists were quick to do.
Today, we realize that senior employees are a serious asset to companies:
- They know how to adapt
- They can stand back
- They are experienced
- They are committed
- They’re not that expensive
- They speak English and other languages
But above and beyond all these qualities that are being rediscovered, above all else, the Senior presents a sense of commitment and, above all, a “love of the jersey”.
And that’s an indispensable value, which may seem outdated to some, but which company directors particularly appreciate in these difficult and uncertain times.
Seniors are no longer on quest for the grail, i.e. this or that promotion, they are simply looking for consideration, respect and the opportunity to participate in a company project. They want to pass on, support and commit.
After years of purgatory, the Senior is back in the game and is the intermediary that companies need today to ensure a smooth and, above all, effective handover to the new generations.
The new Employment Plan for Seniors launched by the French Ministry of Labor aims to better protect them within companies, but above all it has the merit of shedding light on a generation that has given so much and still has enormous potential in terms of skills to pass on.
Being Senior will soon no longer be a handicap, but an opportunity!
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