Active aging is the trend

Many of the older workers, employed or unemployed, have many good qualities that should be appreciated by employers.

We find experience, maturity, responsibility, loyalty, continuity, expertise training investment, dedication, discipline, acceptance of authority, managerial ability, less sporadic leave, and better customer care, especially in the retail trade.

Employers of older workers are encouraged to do everything possible to retain them and make the best use of their qualities for the benefit of the enterprise.

Employers should also create the right work environment and be ready to be flexible enough to accommodate their needs for mutual benefits.

The working population is becoming older. Births are decreasing, workers are living longer and young people are joining the labour market later, due to a longer educational and vocational preparation.

Unemployment statistics issued by the ETC for last month reveal that 39.2% (3,172 out of 8,103) of those registering as unemployed are aged 40 and over. This presents a mine of experience together with a huge investment in past training. With proper retraining older workers could be fruitfully utilised by wise employers.

Some of these unemployed over-40s find it extremely difficult to re-employ themselves, for various reasons. Coupled with current economic hardship, some suffer age discrimination, fast technological progress, low educational level, low skills level, stress and health problems, lack of confidence and selfesteem and poor employment records.

Illiteracy and proximity of social assistance to the national minimum wage are two of their greatest enemies. Some have disabilities or are former correctional facilities inmates or substance abusers. Others have to care for children and/or the elderly.

However, with understanding and flexibility from both the employers and the employees, these difficulties could be overcome to their mutual benefit.

The ETC, Malta's public employment service, is doing its utmost to help in these matters and has created assistance schemes.

¤ Training and Employment Exposure Scheme (TEES) for the unemployed over-40s will be relaunched this month, as a European Social Fund project, with 75 per cent of the funds coming from the ESF and the rest from the ETC. The one-year scheme of training and work exposure offers a full-time weekly wage.

¤ Employment Training Placement Scheme (ETPS) for the long-term unemployed. Half the national minimum wage is subsidised by the ETC during probation period.

¤ INT (Iftah Negozju Tieghek) is a scheme aimed at the small enterpreneur which from this month will extend a training and financial grant to prospective entrepreneurs

¤ Bridging the Gap aims to assist the unemployed with special needs like a disability, former correctional facilities inmates and ex-substance abusers. An allowance is given.

One of ETC's campaigns in favour of disadvantaged groups concerns the unemployed over-40s, which aims at selling to employers the good qualities of this cohort.

The ETC regularly organises activities like educational and motivational seminars and meetings to help, counsel and guide the older unemployed raise their employability and also facilitate finding employment.

These schemes and services all take the form of free retraining to the registered unemployed, guidance and counselling and finding work exposure experiences with employers to raise the employability of the unemployed.

These schemes also offer very attractive financial assistance together with employment services to employers to encourage them to employ older workers.

For more information, phone Paul Borg at the Employment Services Division, ETC, Hal Far, on 2220-1219.

Mr Mifsud is officer-in-charge of the Over-40s programme offered by the ETC