An expert forum of the Senior Citizens’ Association, which dealt with longer working for older people, a study by the state, which inquires about the willingness to work of pensioners: these are examples of longer paid work being discussed. “I’m glad that politicians are taking up the issue,” says Chamber of Commerce President Doris Hummer, who has long claimed that better conditions for longer periods of employment have been on the agenda. Hummer doesn’t deny that the topic used to be one for Sunday speeches, but: “Now it’s about working on solutions in a structured way.”
In addition to women, seniors are a personnel reserve that can help in the dried-up job market. The employment rate for 55 to 64 year olds is only 55 percent. The reasons for this are well known: women in particular do not work until the normal retirement age, but leave the work process earlier. Men are also retiring early in international comparison. In an EU comparison, 60 percent of this age group are still employed.
Hummer calls for the adjustment of retirement to the increased life expectancy. “It doesn’t have to be three years, but let’s start with one or two months,” says the President of the Chamber of Commerce. “As small as that sounds, every month helps.” Hummer does not want to be discouraged by the fact that the underlying issue of pension automatism is not in the government program and therefore has no political chance. Austria is one of the few EU countries that does not have any form of adjustment of longer life expectancy at retirement.
In the first step, voluntary longer work should be “rewarded and not punished,” says Hummer. This is to be done by abolishing the pension contribution for people who are still working after retirement and making wage tax more attractive.
Hummer does not believe that there is a lack of political will here either. “We need a tool to narrow the gap in the labor market as much as possible.” (sib)
Source: Nachrichten
