Employment of senior citizens in the Russian Federation: characteristics of trends and opportunities for implementation

Abstract

Providing employment opportunities for senior citizens in the context of increasing life expectancy of the  population is worldwide recognized as a necessary condition for active aging. Solution of this problem is mainstreamed due to raising the retirement age. The goals of this research is to describe the trends in the sphere of employment of senior citizens in the Russian Federation, which includes people of retirement and pre-retirement age, as well as assess the possibilities of implementing work activity of “age” employees. The problem of employment of Russian senior citizens is examined via analysis and systematization of the government statistics and secondary analysis of the data of monitoring and one-time sociological research (Russian monitoring of economic situation and public health, online surveys of employers and job applicants, local regional studies). The acquired results reveal the existing contradiction between the increasing motivation of senior citizens to continue work activity and inability of the system of social production to ensure necessary opportunities for its implementation. The steps taken by the government on providing legal guarantees for employment of the senior citizens, namely people of pre-retirement age, have not yet yielded the desired results. Having analyzed the factors that promote or impede the employment of senior citizens, the authors conclude on the need of the following issues to be addressed as a matter of urgency: interest of the employers in providing employment for senior citizens, and overcoming ageist stereotypes in the society that unreasonably reduce the value of labor capacity of “age” employees.