Expert developments by scientists of the Mikhail Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine became the basis for the formation of a new state program "Experience Matters," aimed at returning people aged 50+ to the labor market and overcoming the labor shortage in Ukraine.
The results of the study "Labor Market After 50: What Employers Really Think – and What to Do About It" were presented during a discussion at the Interfax-Ukraine agency. The study was conducted by the Ukrainian Center for Social Reforms of the Mikhail Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
The focus of the scientists is the concept of the so-called "silver economy," that is, active professional longevity. The scientists analyze not only employers' attitudes towards older workers but also the barriers that people aged 50+ often create themselves due to internal stereotypes about their own competitiveness. The next stage of the study will be dedicated directly to the views of older people themselves on work, retraining, and professional realization.
The director of the Institute of Demography and Social Studies, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Ella Libanova emphasized in her speech that Ukraine cannot build an economic recovery strategy solely on the expectation of migrants returning. According to her, the main resource should be the country's internal reserves – primarily older people and people with disabilities.
"The 50+ category is not a social welfare problem but one of the largest unrealized resources of the Ukrainian economy," emphasized Ella Libanova.
She pointed out that the level of economic activity of older people in Ukraine remains significantly lower than in European countries. In particular, only about 15% of people with disabilities in Ukraine are employed, whereas in European countries this figure reaches 60%.
In the scientist's opinion, without changing approaches to the employment of the older generation, Ukraine risks facing a critical imbalance between workers and pensioners. That is why it is important not only to overcome employers' prejudices but also to change societal behavioral models and abandon the stereotype that after 50 a person automatically loses professional value.
Separately, Ella Libanova stressed the need to move from the model of "work for survival" to a model of active professional longevity, where people continue to work thanks to the presence of motivation, conditions, and opportunities for self-realization.
The discussion also covered international experience in supporting the employment of older people – in particular, mechanisms of state incentives for employers, tax benefits, and co-financing employment programs.
Participants emphasized that it is precisely the expert community of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine that today forms the scientific basis for state decisions in the field of the labor market, demographic policy, and human capital development in the conditions of war and post-war recovery of the country.