Press Release No. 04/2014 Hans-Jürgen Urban: “Gesamtmetall Study Ignores Reality in the Workplace”

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall has described the study on the employability of older workers published today by the employers’ association Gesamtmetall—conducted by Heidelberg-based work and organizational psychologist Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Sonntag—as out of touch with reality. “Older workers are rarely hired, even if employers like to claim otherwise. The Gesamtmetall study completely ignores the reality in the workplace that older employees face,” said Hans-Jürgen Urban, executive board member of IG Metall, on Wednesday in Frankfurt.

For example, the study lacked systematic data on what percentage of the analyzed companies were in the manufacturing or service sectors, Urban said. In its conclusion, Gesamtmetall even admits that there are hardly any studies on the 55- to 70-year-old age group from which representative statements about their performance, well-being, and health in working life can be drawn. “What can be substantiated is this: The current figures for employees subject to social insurance contributions who are over 63 and 64 years old stand at only 21 and 16 percent, respectively. These figures even include part-time employees and those in partial retirement, including those in the passive phase. For this reason alone, raising the retirement age makes no sense,” said Urban. What is needed, he added, is a general reduction. A first step, he noted, is the pension without reductions after 45 years of insurance coverage, which was approved by the cabinet today. “The ‘brave new world of work’ for older people is and remains a myth. Rather, we need a labor policy initiative to make the workplace age-friendly and to provide further flexible options for exiting the workforce,” said Urban. According to a survey of works councils within the IG Metall union, not even four percent of employees are over 60 years old, and just under one percent are over 63.