Our exclusive survey featured in the article of Stratégies “Seniors, unloved in the company”
02.02.2024
WHILE THE MINISTER OF THE ECONOMY WISHES TO LOWER THE DURATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR SENIORS TO REACH FULL EMPLOYMENT, THE OVER-55s SUFFER FROM NEGATIVE PREJUDICES AND INSUFFICIENT TRAINING FROM RECRUITERS. A FRENCH SPECIFICITY.
While the pension reform came into force on September 1, 2023 and the government set itself an objective of full employment, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, declared in November that he was in favor of lowering the duration of unemployment benefits for those over 55 to align it with those of other unemployed people.
The low employment rate of seniors is a problem specific to France. “In 2022, 56.9% of people aged 55 to 64 are in employment, compared with 82.5% of those aged 25 to 49. […] In 2022, the employment rate of seniors remains lower in France than that of the European Union average, which is 62.4%,” indicates Dares, of the Ministry of Labor, in a note of September 2023. It ranks 17th among European countries, behind Sweden (77.3%), Germany (73.3%), Portugal (65.9%) or Spain (57.7%). Dares nevertheless specifies that “this rate continues to increase to reach its highest level since 1975.”
In France, seniors suffer from negative prejudices from recruiters, most actors estimate. “Nearly nine out of ten senior executives believe that their age disadvantages them in their job search,” indicates the study Senior executives aged 55 and over job seekers (Pôle emploi-Apec, January 2022). “Age refers in particular to a certain number of negative representations among recruiters, who often assume that senior executives will have higher salary expectations, less adaptability, and a time horizon limited by the proximity of retirement,” summarizes this study.
“These stereotypes and these prejudices are old and deeply entrenched,” regrets Anne-Marie Deblonde, director practice distribution & media within the HR firm Grant Alexander. “Seniors are considered as employees having difficulty adapting, less flexible, less dynamic but also resistant to new technologies or who have less desire to learn.” A finding that is even more true for women, whose social image is already strongly degraded from the age of 45, she points out.