The seniors@work platform is certainly a great offer for some senior citizens. However, a closer look soon reveals that both the participating seniors senior citizens participating in the platform as well as the job offers that work after retirement is only an option for a limited number of retirees. pensioners is an option. These tend to be more people with academic backgrounds and/or "office jobs". Bricklayers, gardeners, salespeople are in short supply. In addition, a distinction needs to be made between gainful employment and voluntary work.

These were associations of employees that founded the trade unions. This it is clear that the trade unions are committed to working people. Nevertheless employees who continue to work beyond the normal AHV retirement age are not age are not the focus of the trade unions. This is because our attention attention must first be paid to those employees who are currently unable to work until cannot or are not allowed to work until normal retirement age. Reaching reaching the normal retirement age is a challenge for many employees, especially, but not but not only, in physically demanding professions.

A study of unemployment insurance has shown that older employees often have great difficulty have great difficulty finding a new job, even though they are well trained and good qualifications. Even if they lower their salary expectations lower their salary expectations.

The The poorer 2nd pillar benefits are also the reason why the employment rate of that the employment rate of 55 to 64-year-olds has risen sharply.

In this context The argument that older employees are too expensive cannot be accepted: According to a survey by the statistical office in Zurich, wage development for women up to around the age of 50 and for men up to the age of 55 age - after that it becomes negative - a similar picture is shown by detailed Detailed evaluations of the wage calculator (www.lohnrechner.ch).

Many Despite these developments on the labor market, many employees would like to work at least work until they reach their normal retirement age, or would have to do so in order to a reasonably decent pension. However, the number of unemployed people over the age of 55 is rising steadily. For this reason, the the following points:

• Long-serving employees over the age of 50 should be particularly protected protection against dismissal, as is already the case in some collective is already regulated. This protection against dismissal also gives employers an incentive, to take better care of their staff (training and further education, health protection). Contrary to what is often claimed, this additional protection does not act as an obstacle to for re-entering the labor market. This is because it is linked to the length of length of service and does not act as a deterrent to new employment. a deterrent to new employment.
• Older unemployed people must have a better chance of finding a job again. find a job again. The job registration requirement adopted by the National Council and the Council of States must now be must now be implemented consistently so that older jobseekers who are currently jobseekers who are currently disadvantaged.
• Employees (and the unemployed) should have the right to a career assessment career assessment or career advice (e.g. from the age of 45). In They should be able to count on more support with regard to training and further education, e.g. through additional offers and information measures in the sectors with collective labor agreements. The Confederation and cantons must facilitate access to VET certificates.

Parallel to the preventive measures mentioned above, it is absolutely essential that the existing gaps in social security gaps in social security at pre-retirement age are finally closed. Against this backdrop, the Federal Council's proposal to introduce a bridging benefit for older unemployed people is an extremely important step and is and is very much welcomed by the trade unions.

It should be possible to work beyond the normal retirement age, but there should be no financial or hierarchical pressure on employees or the labor market. Based on this premise, the trade unions are in favour of making the retirement age more flexible, provided it is open and accessible to all employees. This means that people with medium and low incomes must also be able to retire earlier rather than having to work longer.

Making the retirement age more flexible can create jobs for younger people in particular. It therefore makes little sense for jobs to remain occupied by people who have already been retired for 10 years. However, this also means that our occupational pension system enables everyone to continue to lead a dignified life after reaching the normal retirement age at the latest. Anyone who has not had the benefit of a 2nd pillar pension for their entire working life and receives a minimum AHV pension can hardly speak of a dignified life. Financial hardship could force such people - who are primarily affected by poverty in old age - to continue working after retirement, even though they are physically no longer able to sit at a cash desk for eight hours a day, for example. On the other hand, the transfer of know-how, especially company-specific know-how, from experienced to younger employees is extremely valuable. The trade unions therefore also encourage employers to design internal succession plans with cross-generational tandem solutions, e.g. also in job sharing with partial retirement models (if financially feasible). It would be desirable if the sustainable effect of such models were given greater weight than is all too often the case with purely financial, short-term considerations.

Toya Krummenacher

President of the Basel Federation of Trade Unions