Bridging the Gap: From Work to WorkUnemployment prevention for elderly redundant workers in the

Netherlands and Sweden

Employment Relations and Transformation of the Enterprise in the Global Economy13th International Conference in Commemoration of Professor Marco Biagi

Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Second Plenary Session: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in a Global Context: Relations, Interests, Protection

20th March 2015, Modena, Italy

Dr. Irmgard Borghouts - van de Pas

i.borghoutsvdpas@uvt.nl

www.tilburguniversity.edu/reflect

• ReflecT: Research Institute for Flexicurity, Labour Market Dynamics and Social Cohesion at Tilburg University (The Netherlands)

• One of Tilburg University’s multidisciplinary & interfaculty institutes

Introduction

Central questions• Are there From-Work-To-Work (FWTW) systems (or arrangements) in place for

redundant older workers employed by small or medium-sized companies in the Netherlands and in Sweden?

• If so, how is the FWTW support organized/coordinated, who has acces to the support and what are the results?

• What lessons can the Netherlands learn from Sweden with regards to policy and regulation?

• Crisis, globalization and increasing competition -> companies adjust their organization

• A shift from job security towards employment security

• Chances for finding a new job are more limited for older unemployed individuals than for younger people

Background

Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)

• Why comparing Sweden and the Netherlands?

Background

Labor market rates NL, SE and EU27 (2009-2013) The Netherlands Sweden EU27

2009 2013 2009 2013 2009 2013

Employment rate Total 78.8 76.5 78.3 79,8 69.0 68.5

Employment rate Female 72.2 71.6 75.7 77,2 62.3 62.7

Employment rate Male 84.9 81.3 80.9 82,2 75.8 74.4

Employment rate older people (55-64) 55.1 60.1 70.0 73,6 46.0 50.3

Employment rate older female (55-64) 44.7 50.0 66.7 70,3 37.8 43.4

Employment rate older male (55-64) 65.4 70.2 73.2 76,9 54.8 57.6

Unemployment rate total 3.7 6,7 8.3 8.0 9.0 10.8

Youth unemployment rate (<25 year) 7.7 11.0 25 23,6 20.1 23.3

Part-time employment as percentage of total employment 48.3 50.8 27 26,2 18.7 20.4 Share of employees with limited duration contract (%) 18.2 20.6 15.3 16,9 13.6 13.8

Source: Eurostat

• Focus paper: curative measures for redundant employees who are going to lose their job or have recently lost their job.

• Methodology: literature review, policy documents, face-to-face interviews with relevant stakeholders in Sweden and the Netherlands, quantitative data from Swedish Transition funds and panel data from Dutch SCP.

Background

From Work to Work in Sweden

• Swedish transition funds -> employer organization and unions reach transition agreements

• The government does not interfere

• First transition fund: 1974

• Vast majority of employees with permanent contract -> FWTW support

• Both small and large companies fall under the transition agreements

• Acces to, the setup and methods of the funds vary

• Contribution to the funds via percentage over the total wage sum

From Work to Work in SwedenFigures TSL foundation:

•Since 2004: > 200,000 TSL applications honored for FWTW support

•In 2014: 53% applications awarded to employers with fewer than 50 employees

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Size of the office Abs nr % Abs nr % Abs nr % Abs nr % Abs nr % Abs nr %

Micro (0-9

employees)

6,299 10.3 3,431 19.5 2,722 19.0 3,712 15.0 3,827 16.2 3,673 17.6

Small (10-49

employees)

18,003 29.4 5,699 32.4 5,288 37.0 8,271 33.4 7,982 33.7 7,425 35.7

Medium (50-249

employees)

21,645 35.3 5,347 30.4 5,091 35.6 7,877 31.8 8,291 35.0 6,769 32.5

Large (250

employees and

above)

15,333 25.0 3,119 17.7 1,192 8.3 4,907 19.8 3,578 15.1 2,960 14.2

Total 61,280 100 17,596 100 14,293 100 24,767 100 23,678 100 20,827 100

Applications awarded according to company size (branch office) for the years 2009 – 2014 (in percentages and absolute number of individuals)

Source: TSL

From Work to Work in Sweden

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Abs nr % Abs nr % Abs nr % Abs nr % Abs nr % Abs nr %

Micro (0-9

employees)

3,021 38.3 1,777 46.2 1,518 45.5 1,870 41.2 2,001 41.1 1,825 43.3

Small (10-49

employees)

3,378 42.8 1,420 36.9 1,205 36.1 1,813 40.0 1,937 39.7 1,642 39.0

Medium

(50-249

employees)

1,251 15.8 517 13.4 485 14.5 689 15.2 758 15.6 612 14.5

Large (250 >

employees )

243 3.1 131 3.4 131 3.9 163 3.6 178 3.7 132 3.1

Total 7,893 100.0 3,845 100.0 3,339 100.0 4,535 100.0 4,874 100.0 4,211 100.0

Number of companies that submitted one or more requests in a year to TSL for the years 2009 – 2014 (in percentages and absolute number of companies)

Source: TSL

• Small and Micro companies lean far more heavily on TSL for FWTW support than large companies.

From Work to Work in Sweden

• 30% of the FWTW applications honored by TSL-> older redundant employees (> 50 years)

• 77% who completed TSL support in 2013 found a new job and 2% started their own company.

From Work to Work in the Netherlands• Largest share of FWTW activities result from ‘social plans’/ social pacts-> large

companies

 

 

FWTW policy drafted   FWTW activities implemented to

other employer

FWTW activities implemented within the

organization

  Spring

2008

Summer

2010

Spring

2012

  Spring

2008

Summer

2010

Spring

2012

Spring

2008

Summer

2010

Spring 2012

Company size:                    

5 - 9 employees 9 10 13   8 5 5 14 9 9

10 - 19 employees 16 18 22   14 7 10 24 19 16

20 - 49 employees 22 21 22   22 20 22 36 33 28

50 - 99 employees 16 28 36   34 31 31 52 52 50

100 - 199 employees 42 37 33   48 42 41 73 58 62

200 and more

employees

54 50 49   69 54 64 83 73 72

Total economy 15 17 21   18 13 14 27 23 22

FWTW policy and activities implemented during the past 5 years for employees that would have been

dismissed, according size of company (in percentage of companies; 2008, 2010, 2012)

Source: own analysis of OSA/SCP Dutch labor demand panel 2008 - 2012

From Work to Work in the Netherlands

•Specific agreements about FWTW for elderly employees in social plans.

•Link between proportion elderly employees in a company and the extent to which companies have drafted FWTW policies and implemented FWTW activities.

•No structural FWTW approach: experiments, sector funds and sector plans.

ConclusionSwedish transition funds -> source of inspiration for the Netherlands:

•Structural resources for FWTW

•FWTW support in an early stage

•Scope of FWTW support

•Preventative effect and facilitation of inter-sector mobility

•Role of social partners (employers’ organization and unions) is important

Thanks for your attention!

ReflecT Summer School 2015 for PhD’s:

Flexicurity in Today's Labour Market: A Transition from Job Security to Employment Security

Tilburg University, The Netherlands, 6th-10th July 2015

https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/students/show/item-flexicurity-1/