The full-scale war has posed many challenges for business. One of the most noticeable is the personnel shortage caused by population-forced migration and mobilization. Considering ways to solve this issue, we paid attention to the category of people 60+.
For five years, at the suggestion of the UN General Assembly, the world has been actively working to improve the lives of older people and make them more active. It’s about encouraging physical, mental, and social activity, considering their health, interests, and capabilities. At Astarta, we decided to make them active, including through professional employment.
As people retire, their social circle often narrows. At best, it is limited to family, neighbours, and friends. However, many retirees remain lonely, as if thrown out of active life. At the same time, they may be experienced managers or specialists or have blue-collar professions that businesses currently lack.
Just imagine: as of October 2024, there were over 10 million pensioners in Ukraine. Of course, these are people of different ages and health. But many active men and women among them can and want to work. At Astarta, we create such an opportunity for them. From July to November, 60+ employees increased by a third and now amounts to 11%. This trend is generally visible in other companies in Ukrainian agriculture and beyond. Over the past three years, the number of employees over 60 in agricultural companies has increased by 11%. We are convinced that this trend will continue to grow. After all, the need for people is not only now. It will be even more important during the country’s recovery and reconstruction.
Therefore, we initiated a large-scale project, “Active and Healthy Longevity,” to launch a trend towards active longevity in Ukraine, overcome the challenge of staff shortages, support the country’s economy, and improve the quality of life of older people.
Active and healthy longevity: program’s benefits for business, pensioners and the state
The additional value of employees in this category is that they already have professional experience and expertise. Therefore, there is no need to spend time and resources on their training. Vocational education has also been negatively affected. The decline in education quality occurred due to students’ prolonged distance learning, first during COVID-19 and then the war.
Businesses will benefit from employing older people, not only. Our project will allow us to solve a few problems for people 60+. It is primarily about psychosocial aspects. After all, according to the World Health Organization, older people are inhered by social isolation and a sense of uselessness. They also often face ageism in everyday life. Work will allow them to feel more confident and have at least a circle of professional communication to feel needed. Secondly, it is about physical well-being. Hard physical labour or long concentration of attention may be inaccessible to such an employee. Therefore, it is essential to offer adapted work so that they can most effectively apply their skills and knowledge.
Since the beginning of 2023, Astarta has been systematically engaging a supportive and conscious attitude to health and fostering a healthy lifestyle among employees and their families. The “Healthy and Unbreakable” program involves all holding employees and includes scheduled health check-ups, various physical activities, lectures, training, and work with corporate and guest psychologists, doctors, and nutrition experts. In other words, all employees can better understand what affects their health and develop the habit of taking care of themselves and their loved ones.
Third, there are the financial difficulties that many older people face. According to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, 87% of pensioners receive less than UAH7k per month. Without relatives’ help, they often stop doing any economic activity except buying food and paying for utilities.
For the state, employing older people will reduce the social burden on the budget. Earning, these people will not need social and material support. Creating a culture of health care, disease prevention, infrastructure, and opportunities for active longevity will help reduce the burden on the healthcare system.
How the world cares for the elderly
In December 2020, the UN General Assembly announced the Decade of Healthy Ageing. It is a global cooperation that brings together governments, civil society, international agencies, academics, media and private organizations to improve the lives of older people, their families and the communities in which they live. The initiative’s primary goals include changing ageing perceptions, creating a friendly environment for people 60+, and their active participation in public life. Among the activities of this initiative are promoting age diversity, health improvement, and work lives, and extending conditions of decent work.
Of course, different countries have their ways of achieving this healthy ageing. For example, in Asian countries, events with participation from different generations are supported. This contributes to psychosocial health. In Europe, older people are involved in various events and competitions. Moreover, they are invited to organize such events. For example, in Norway, retired police officers organize rallies together with young people. Also, people 60+ are involved in popularizing book reading, games, etc.
In Ukraine, there are opportunities to help seniors feel needed and become financially stable. Businesses are also interested in this, as they need the valuable professional experience of such people. All that is required is to create an inclusive, favourable environment focused on them. We can have a cardinal positive impact on these processes only in partnership, so we invite Ukrainian and foreign businesses to join our initiative.