Labour Market and Wage Developments in Europe 2024

Education and training patterns differ greatly among Member States

Older people participate in less education and training than other age groups.

In 2022, 35.4 % of people between the ages of 55 and 64 in the EU reported having taken part in education or training in the previous 12 months, up from 18.5 % in 2007 but below the 46.6 % participation rate for the people between the ages of 25 and 64 . This reflects the influence of multiple factors. Older adults have less time to reap the benefits of their training. As this chapter shows, they are also better matched to their jobs and work in less dynamic workplaces. Additional determinants include age stereotypes, inadequate training offerings for older workers and the underinvestment of companies in their training.

Although more older workers participate in training now than they did 15 years ago, they tend to complete fewer training hours than in the past in some Member States .

With the exception of Bulgaria, a larger share of older individuals participated in training in 2022 than in 2007 in all Member States (Graph 3.8). The total number of education and training hours completed by older people in the EU rose, driven mainly by sizeable increases in the participation rate in large Member States, such as Germany, Spain, France and Italy. However, over the same period, average instruction hours declined in several Member States, mostly in central and eastern Europe (Graph 3.17 in Annex 3.1), as the decrease in average instruction hours outweighed the increase in training participation rates. The decline in hours per participant may have been the result of a move towards more widespread, but shorter, education and training programmes. In some Member States, however, the statistics may also be capturing health and safety training sessions that employers are mandated to offer to most employees.

There is large variation in training participation across Member States.

In 2022, more than half of older people participated in training in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden, while less than 15 % did so in Bulgaria, Greece, Poland and Romania (Graph 3.16 in Annex 3.1). Older individuals in northern and western Europe (especially Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands) completed the highest amount of education and training, and those in central and eastern Europe (particularly Bulgaria, Poland and Romania) completed the lowest amount (Graph 3.8). By contrast, older workers in Bulgaria, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Finland participated in fewer training hours (Graph 3.17 in Annex 3.1).

Older individuals wanting to participate in training cite health, age and course availability as the main reasons for their non-participation (Graph 3.9).

Among the supply-side reasons given, older people mentioned course availability more frequently and cost less frequently than did younger people. On the demand side, health and age were more prominent among older people, while family and other personal reasons played a larger role among younger people. In both age groups, about 8 % of adults reported lack of support, either from their employers or from public services, as the main reason for their non-participation in training.

Older people transition from unemployment to employment at higher rates when they complete more education (Graph 3.18 in Annex 3.1).

The country in which they complete the greatest number of training hours (about 20 % more than people aged 25 to 64 in the EU), Denmark, also has the highest transition rate (more than 30 %) from unemployment to employment among all Member States. Older unemployed individuals also find jobs at a relatively high rate in other countries with high training levels, such as Germany, the Netherlands and Austria. In contrast, in Member States with low training levels (e.g. Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Slovakia), older individuals transition from unemployment to employment at much lower rates (below 10 % per quarter). This pattern is consistent with the research literature, which indicates that education and training policies are among the most effective tools for promoting the employment of older workers, especially when they also incorporate search assistance and counselling .

Older people have lower levels of digital skills, although these skills depend strongly on their level of education.

Among those aged 55 to 64, 44 % of individuals have at least basic digital skills, compared with 64 % of those aged 25 to 54 . Basic digital skills are increasingly required across a wide range of workplaces, which makes it particularly important for older individuals to acquire and develop them. There is significant variation across Member States; the Netherlands and Finland have the highest percentages of older people with at least basic digital skills (above 70 %), and Romania has the lowest (at only 14 %) (Graph 3.10). In all Member States, higher levels of formal education are associated with better digital skills for those aged 55 to 74 (Graph 3.19 in Annex 3.1). Older people with low levels of formal education have particularly weak digital skills in several central and eastern European countries – especially in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania (Graph 3.19 in Annex 3.1).

Older people work in less dynamic workplaces, but are better matched to their jobs

Better skills matching may lower the demand among older people for education and training.

Older workers are more likely to be using their current knowledge and skills at work, and report less need for extensive skill development. They work less frequently in jobs related to their field of study, and are less likely to be overqualified for their positions – that is, to work in a job for which a lower level of education would be sufficient. On the contrary, they are more likely than younger adults to work in jobs that nowadays require a higher level of education than they possess (Graph 3.20(a) in Annex 3.1). Certainly, unemployed older individuals may still face a mismatch between the skills they possess and those that are requested in the labour market.

Furthermore, older people tend to work in less dynamic workplaces, which can also lower their training demand.

Older workers are less likely to be employed in workplaces that have recently undergone changes, such as relocating work, introducing new products or services, adopting new digital technologies, or implementing new working or management methods (Graph 3.20(b) in Annex 3.1). This means that they may be less affected by having lower digital skills and by their lower levels of training. Indeed, based on evidence on the change in productivity with age, working in jobs that rely on long experience and accumulated knowledge may improve the productivity of older people .