Population ageing currently confronts European welfare states and the European economy with unprecedented challenges. In response to demographic ageing there has been, over the past 20 years, a paradigm shift in employment policies towards promoting increased labour force participation by older workers, women, low-skilled workers and migrants. Public policy in regard to older workers has moved from an emphasis on early retirement as an instrument of labour force adjustment, towards the promotion of higher rates of labour force participation and longer working lives for older workers. The main elements of the reforms have been a variety of changes in old age and disability pension systems, unemployment insurance and welfare programmes intended to incentivise people remaining in employment or re-entering employment after job loss. Increasing the employment rates of older workers has been a central component of the Europe 2020 strategy and their rise has been a key factor in the overall rise in EU employment rates, despite the recent recession and the continued ageing of the EU population. The employment rate for people aged 55 to 64 in the EU significantly increased from 42.2% to 58.7% over the period 2005 to 2018. Older workers are less likely to become unemployed but they are also less likely to re-enter employment. The increase in the employment rates of older workers is largely a consequence of higher rates of retention rather than increased hiring rates. If older people become unemployed, they are more likely to become long-term unemployed. If they exit unemployment, it is more likely to be due to sickness or disability, retirement or inactivity, than into further employment. The consequences of demographic change on employers in the EU come at different times, in different country-specific labour market dynamics, and in the context of different business challenges. This should cause scepticism towards simplistic generalisations about company behaviour and possible remedies. The frontrunners in ‘age neutrality’ in employment are clearly Sweden, Norway and the UK. To better understand future challenges, it would be fruitful to explore in depth how companies in these countries have responded. Employers in most countries seem so far to have coped with the ageing workforce without a sense of crisis. They have mainly coped with the ageing of the workforce through their established channels of work organisation, job allocation and counselling. If that fails, they resort to special exit paths like disability pensions. Whether this approach is sufficient for future challenges is an open question. Companies adjusted to pension reforms that block some early retirement channels. But when they need to reduce personnel, they still resort to early retirement programmes. The financing has changed and the definition of ‘early’ might have moved higher up the age ladder, but in central Europe older workers remain the potential target for workforce reductions. Employers remain reluctant to hire older workers. It might be a way to solve a resource problem, but it is certainly not the preferred one. Ageism is one of the explanations. Other explanations are associated with the ‘risk focus’ when hiring. To support the hiring of older workers, these risk factors need to be addressed by public policy.

链接地址：http://dx.doi.org/10.2767/535792