Generation Silver in the company
The silver generation is growing in the Swiss population. In addition, customers and suppliers are also getting older on average. Flexible working models and tailored contracts for older employees secure skilled workers for companies.
It is possible that the silver generation will help to stop the shortage of qualified workers. Today, two major challenges are holding back the realization of longer working lives. First, older workers may not be able to balance productivity and labor costs.
Rising wage trends, reinforced by the increase in non-wage labor costs in old age, cannot compensate for the productivity stagnation that sometimes occurs. If productivity and wage costs do not develop in step, older employees become less attractive for the company.
When know-how is a burden
Secondly, many years of company-specific knowledge can become a "burden" when looking for a job. This knowledge makes older employees attractive within the company and justifies a higher salary. Outside the company, on the other hand, the value of their knowledge is greatly reduced: anyone who is well networked within company X hardly offers company Y any added value.
For older employees, this means that their market value is significantly reduced and discrepant with their previous salary and status when they look for a new job. If a company wants to utilize the potential of older workers, their qualities and needs must be taken into account. In this context, Generation Silver workers are by no means a homogeneous group, so successful models are usually flexible and tailored.
Rainbow career - take a step back
With flexible handling of wages and areas of responsibility, older employees can remain in the company even if they wish to reduce their area of responsibility or performance pressure or are no longer able to perform at their previous level (for example, for health reasons).
In the rainbow career concept, the middle of working life is the zenith of the professional career. From the middle of working life onwards, there is a gradual reduction in requirements, salary and management responsibility. Thanks to flexibility, any discrepancy between salary, value added and position between the old and the new company can also be overcome in the case of a new job.
The employee makes sacrifices with this concept. However, in a company with a rigid remuneration system, he would not be employed in the first place due to the discrepancy between remuneration and perceived quality.
The rainbow career challenges not only the employee, but also the corporate culture if salary, rank and management responsibility are still conceived in a linear way (for example, remuneration according to seniority or personnel organization according to the up-or-out principle). Today, a step down in pay, rank or management responsibility is still often perceived as a demotion. Regular, systematic discussion of options can promote employees' openness to rainbow careers. At the same time, it also requires the entire company to be open to such solutions.
Another possibility is to integrate (further) training into the remuneration system, for example instead of additional vacations, wage increases or bonuses. This meets a need of both the company and the older employee. A third possibility is a contractual agreement on the gross wage instead of the net wage.
Due to the ancillary wage costs linked to age, the net wage decreases gradually, but the attractiveness of the employee of the silver generation for the company remains the same.
You can find more information from the current UBS Outlook Switzerland at this Link
