The challenge we are addressing
At Senior Talent, we are addressing a timely and important question: How can experienced employees aged 55 and over stay engaged, valued and productive as workplaces continue to change?
Our work focuses on understanding what older professionals need in order to thrive, and how organisations, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can better support them. Many older workers are willing to continue contributing, but often face barriers such as limited access to flexible working arrangements, a lack of professional development opportunities, and unclear or abrupt retirement processes.
Through research conducted in four European regions (Styria in Austria, Helsinki in Finland, Hamburg in Germany, and Riga in Latvia), we are identifying both challenges and opportunities that shape working life in later career stages. Our findings explore how knowledge is transferred between generations, how work can be made more adaptable, and how retirement can be planned and managed in a way that supports both individuals and organisations.
In addition to organisational-level practices, we examine broader structural factors, such as policy frameworks, demographic change, and regional differences, which influence how older employees are included, retained, or phased out of the workforce. The insights we gather are being used to develop practical tools and recommendations that support more inclusive and future-oriented workplaces across Europe.
Our research approach
To build a well-rounded understanding of the challenges and opportunities related to senior employment, we use three interconnected research methods:
Desk research
Qualitative study
Quantitative survey
We mapped the policy landscape and analysed demographic trends, labour market data, regional initiatives, and pension systems affecting older workers.
We conducted focus groups and interviews with SME managers, HR professionals, and business leaders to understand their perspectives, concerns and current practices regarding senior employees.
We gathered broad-based data from a range of organisations across all four partner countries to identify trends and regional differences in how senior talent is managed.
Importance of our research
The challenges identified through our research have far-reaching implications for both organisations and society. They are not only operational challenges, but also social and economic concerns that affect equity, innovation and workforce sustainability.
Older worders face higher unemployment rates:
Despite possessing decades of experience, many older employees face systemic barriers to continued employment. These include outdated perceptions about their adaptability, limited access to reskilling opportunities, and rigid workplace structures. As a result, a large segment of the workforce remains underutilised, even as labour shortages increase in many sectors.
Critical knowledge is being lost:
Without effective intergenerational learning structures or formal succession planning, critical expertise held by senior employees is often lost when they leave the workforce. This not only affects operational continuity but also weakens innovation, mentoring capacity, and long-term strategic development.
Retirement transitions are often unstructured:
In the absence of planned, flexible pathways toward retirement, older employees often disengage prematurely. This leads to missed opportunities for continued contribution through part-time work, consulting, or mentoring roles, and results in a disconnect between organisational needs and the evolving prepreferences of senior professionals.
These challenges are not merely technical or administrative. They reveal deeper structural issues in how we design work, value experience, and support career longevity. By addressing them through evidence-based research, organisations can build more resilient, inclusive and future-ready workplaces.
What we have discovered so far?
1. Regional differences shape opportunities
Although all partner countries are part of the European Union, our research shows clear regional differences in how older employees are supported. Pension systems vary significantly in retirement age and eligibility, influencing when people leave the workforce and under what conditions.
Geography also plays a role. Urban areas like Helsinki and Hamburg tend to offer more support structures and employment opportunities, while rural regions such as Styria may have fewer resources and limited pathways for senior professionals.
Support policies exist in all four countries, but their scope, consistency and impact differ widely. Some regions have active programmes promoting age inclusion, while others lack coordinated strategies.
2. Flexibility supports long-term engagement
One of the strongest themes emerging from our interviews with managers and HR professionals is the importance of flexibility. Older employees are more likely to stay engaged when they are given the freedom to adjust how and when they work.
Options like remote work, part-time hours and role adjustments help senior employees manage personal responsibilities while continuing to contribute. Flexible approaches allow people to adapt their work around changing life circumstances, especially as they near retirement.
3. Retirement planning is often overlooked
A key challenge across all regions is the lack of structured retirement planning in small and medium-sized enterprises. Many organisations do not have clear systems for preparing employees for retirement or for passing on knowledge to the next generation.
This gap can lead to lost expertise, unclear transitions and missed opportunities for older employees to stay involved in meaningful ways. Structured planning and mentoring programmes could help organisations retain valuable skills while supporting smoother transitions for senior staff.
