Further training for older workers : a solution for an ageing labour force?

The participation of older workers in the German labour force has increased in the recent decade mainly due to institutional and policy developments. This raises the importance of maintaining the skill level of older workers through further training as a mean to strengthen their contribution to economic growth. Furthermore, the requirement of longer employment may also raise the rate of under-represented groups of older workers with low job-satisfaction since unsatisfied workers often tend to exploit early retirement schemes. Building upon studies pointing to a strong association between job satisfaction and labour market behavior, it is therefore essential to examine also the means by which the job satisfaction of these workers can be improved. One such way is by associating between the rates of training to the level of job satisfaction. Accordingly, this research deals with two major questions: The first is whether we recognize an increase in the training participation of older workers over the years, whereas the second, is whether the overall job satisfaction of older workers is affected by participation in training, and in particular, by an occupational-based manner. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 2000, 2004 and 2008, a trend analysis is performed in order to identify developments in the training participation of workers aged 55-64 over the years, followed by a pooled cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis in order to explore the relationship between training and job satisfaction of older workers. Accordingly, the main findings of this research indicate, first, an increase of training participation of workers aged 55-59 over the years, and second, a positive relation between job satisfaction and training of older workers, particularly of blue-collar workers. The positive trend found in the training participation of older workers is a novel development which reflects a change in the training participation pattern. As older workers become a meaningful segment of the labour force, raising investments in their human capital is therefore inevitable. Furthermore, having high job-satisfied older (blue-collar) workers achieved through additional training may have considerable economic implications.