L’emploi des travailleurs âgés dans les entreprises de Grèce

When facing the dilemma about retaining or retiring aging personnel in firms, from the view-point of businesses, the choice of the theoretical interpretation seems sensible as it involves numerous parameters that are closely related to transfer of knowledge, optimal utilization of abilities and performance criterion. All these parameters represent important ingredients of a potential competitive advantage for an economy in situation of hysteresis. All in all, it concerns perception in a game of prevailing rationalities. Hence, from an epistemological point of view, the choice of an explanatory theory is also sensible, as the author is quite convinced that the divisions in the scientific-research community and consequently narrow-mindedness of academic approaches impede a productive understanding of relations and a managerial engineering of choices. Thus, in the Greek case demographic imbalances, institutional paradoxes and a severe economic and social crisis render the issue of the employment of the 55-64, a central but still insufficiently explored issue. The thesis deals with the way managerial choices are made on a number of institutional arrangements that occur upon several internal and external factors: regulations, laws, collective agreements, flexibility and mobility arrangements, ergonomics and individual career planning, at the firm level within specific geographical and institutional boundaries, affecting both labor market, firms etc. In a parallel way, the thesis explores the paths through which social system, general context and the Greek variety of market economy tend to affect the participation of aged workers in the employment from late 90s up to nowadays. These two aspects (organizational and institutional), as hypothesis, have been tested empirically resulting to a number of critical fields that have been identified, for both managerial and institutional action to fostering aged workers employment. Reshaping Greek economy passes through transforming its productive model, applying institutional reforms and optimizing the use of available resources. The thesis contributes to the ongoing debate by analyzing the issue of the participation of older workers in Greek firms and it adds value with practical proposals for both firm’s management and public policy’s decision making.