France: Cross-sharing Skills Between Generations

Like many industrialised countries, France faces the progressive ageing of its population. In this context, promoting active ageing and policies to foster the employability of the over-50s are priority goals. But the number of people taking part in job-related training in France is low compared to other European countries. Moreover, most training is targeted at young people, with only 3% of training programmes designed for those aged 55-64. The Part’@ge EQUAL Development Partnership aims to counter this problem by promoting lifelong learning opportunities for senior workers in agriculture, and the milk sector in particular. The DP analyses the needs of each company and develops an individual training programme for transferring skills. The DP has set up a tutoring scheme where younger workers can take advantage of the experience of senior workers while sharing their own knowledge of information technology and new products. This cross-sharing
of skills and abilities is aimed at fostering the professional development of workers of both age groups.
A detailed version of this EQUAL project can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/equal/activities/search_en.cfm