One of this Center’s priorities is to monitor the integration of senior talent into productive activity. That is why in 2021 the Center launched the first edition of the Senior Talent Map: a rigorous study of this issue which, in addition to offering concrete figures, underlined one premise above all others: the importance of incorporating senior talent into training initiatives adapted to their life circumstances, the demands of each sector, company or type of activity.
Second edition
While the first edition of the Talent Map focused on analyzing the situation in the Spanish labor market, the 2022 edition of the Map has expanded its academic scope and compares the situation of senior talent in Spain with seven European countries selected for their cultural and geographical proximity, their economic weight or the contrast they represent with markets that are closer to us and that are in the same demographic situation as Spain.
The conclusion drawn by the study is that this country lags a long way behind its neighbors in many indicators. For example, the employability rate of older Spanish adults is ten points below the European average (60%). In addition, at the national level, half of the newly unemployed are seniors, one out of every three unemployed people in Spain is over 50 years of age and one out of every two of the older unemployed is in that situation long-term.
Main recommendations
For all these reasons, the researchers behind the study have made a series of recommendations:
- A country-wide pact should be established to promote senior employment and nip the waste of talent among older Spaniards in the bud.
- A legislative package should be approved for senior employment.
- Companies should measure and publicize their social impact not only in terms of the environment and gender, but also in terms of generational diversity.
- The extension of activity requires regulatory changes, but also a cultural shift: working for longer will become an unavoidable necessity that is positive for the physical, mental and economic health of individuals and, therefore, for society as a whole.
- According to the INE, as of the third quarter of 2022, there were more than 20.5 million people in work in Spain. Of these, 9.5 million were women. As in other age groups, in the senior labor market the challenge is also to incorporate more women, in addition to extending the formula of part-time work as a way to stay in the workforce.
- The Public Authorities must encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship among older adults.
- Lifelong training for senior Spanish workers is an unresolved issue that the authorities, as well as companies, must overcome.
- Raising the public profile of senior Spaniards who continue to contribute to society through their work in fields such as science, civil service, teaching and entrepreneurship.
