Presentation of research results
Authors: Marco Rapp, Kristaps Kovalonoks, Nicole Hußmann
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or OeAD-GmbH. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.�Project N° 2023-1-AT01-KA220-VET-000157913
Overview
What is Senior Talent?
Senior Talent is an Erasmus+ project focused on strengthening the role of individuals aged 55 and over in today’s working life, particularly within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
It supports those approaching or already in retirement by helping them stay engaged, develop new skills, and contribute to changing workplace needs.
Learn more at: senior-talent.eu
About the project
Across Europe, many experienced professionals face limited opportunities for continued growth or encounter age-related barriers. These may include assumptions about their ability to adapt, limited access to training, or pressure to retire earlier than they would prefer. At the same time, organisations are facing demographic changes and the risk of losing valuable institutional knowledge as older employees exit the workforce.
To address these challenges, Senior Talent provides SMEs with practical tools, expert-led training, and tailored HR support. These resources enable senior employees to remain in meaningful roles, mentor younger colleagues, or transition into new responsibilities that match their interests and strengths.
The project promotes inclusive and sustainable workplaces where people of all ages are encouraged to collaborate, share knowledge, and grow together.
Our vision
We promote inclusive, age-diverse workplaces where people of all generations learn from one another, share their knowledge, and grow together.
The challenge�we are addressing
How can experienced employees aged 55+ stay engaged, valued and productive as workplaces continue to change?
Our research explores this question by focusing on the real-life needs of senior professionals and the support systems that SMEs need to engage and retain them effectively.
Our work
Our work focuses on understanding what older professionals need to thrive, and how organisations, particularly 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 (Hamburg, Helsinki, Riga, Styria), 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.
Our impact
National and regional level
We contribute to regional development in Hamburg, Helsinki, Riga and Styria by sharing good practices and supporting local stakeholders in responding to workforce ageing.
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Organisational level
SMEs receive practical tools, tailored guidance, and expert training to strengthen collaboration, improve employee engagement, and better utilise the experience of older employees.
Individual level
Senior employees benefit from training, mentoring opportunities, and career planning to help them stay confident, skilled, and actively involved in working life.
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Project�team
Styrian Chamber of Commerce, Room466 (Austria)�– Project Lead
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Regional Management Office Murau Murtal GmbH (Austria)
Aalto University School of Business (Finland)�– Research Lead
Hanse-Parlament (Germany)
Latvian Adult Education Association (Latvia)
Research objectives and methods
In-depth interviews and structured focus groups
Survey with SMEs
Develop and provide mentoring and employment options trainings
We began the project by conducting 42 in-depth interviews with older employees in all four partner regions. The goal was to gain a clear understanding of their main needs and challenges.
After these interviews, we organized 6 focus groups in two of the regions—Austria and Finland. These sessions helped us deepen our insights from the interviews and guided the next phase of our research, which involves collecting quantitative data.
When designing our survey, we focused on testing the main factors that influence how engaged senior employees feel at work. These factors came from our earlier research, including interviews and focus groups. We paid special attention to workplace flexibility and caregiving responsibilities, as these often play a big role for older workers.
Based on our findings, we will offer free trainings for senior employees. Our training package consists of two different programs: mentoring training and alternative employment options training.
Research timeline
January 2024-December 2024
January 2025-April 2025
May 2025-December 2025
Participants per region: Interviews and focus groups
Project Partner | Interviews | Focus Groups (# of Participants) | Sum | ||||
Senior Talent | (HR) Management | Total | Senior Talent | (HR) Management | Total | ||
Styria, Austria | 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 21 |
Helsinki, Finland | 6 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
Hamburg, Germany | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Riga, Latvia | 4 | 15 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
Qualitative Results
Overall insights from interviews and focus groups with managers, HR professionals, and senior employees
To better understand how organisations can engage and retain senior talent, we conducted 6 focus groups and 42 interviews across four partner countries. We spoke with managers, HR professionals, and senior employees (those approaching or past retirement age) to explore what supports or hinders the participation of older workers in the labour market. The insights gathered highlight a wide range of experiences, challenges, and good practices that vary by country and organisational context. Here is what we found and what it means for managers and HR professionals.
Relieve barriers to retaining senior employees�→ Guide employees in navigating taxation issues�→ Provide ergonomic and mental health support�→ Provide access to education in digital skills
Strengthen enablers to retaining senior employees�→ Flexible work schedules and remote work options�→ Recognize the contributions of senior employees publicly and personally�→ Assign senior employees tasks that are meaningful to them�→ Start conversations about the late career path already before retirement age
Encourage intergenerational learning�→ Use both documentation tools (e.g., digital platforms, videos, and written documents) and informal social settings to transfer knowledge�→ Enable different generations to work in tandem for mutual learning
Flexible work arrangements matter
Senior employees often face uncertain life events (e.g., illness) and personal commitments (e.g., caring for family members). Flexible work arrangements, such as part-time work, remote work, or a gradual transition into retirement can therefore help senior employees to stay engaged and capable to work. However, some professions (e.g., manual labour) make remote work harder to implement.
Recommendation: Regularly check in with senior employees about their needs. Offer flexible work schedules, remote work where possible, and adjust tasks or responsibilities to support their individual circumstances.
Having a purpose in work motivates senior employees
Senior employees are more motivated to continue working when they find enjoyment and meaning in their job. Feeling valued and appreciated by managers, colleagues, and society is equally important.
Recommendation: Recognize the contributions of senior employees publicly and personally. Offer roles where they can mentor others and solve meaningful problems.
Talk about the future early and openly
Many companies do not plan and communicate late career options for their employees. This often leads to employees either initiating the conversation themselves or staying unaware of available opportunities to keep working later in life.
Recommendation: Start conversations about late career pathways before employees reach retirement age.
Common barriers to look out for
Frequent challenges that senior employees face and might affect their engagement and ability to work:
Recommendation: Be proactive in recognizing these challenges. Offer ergonomic support, access to education in digital skills, and taxation guidance.
Knowledge transfer requires processes and social relationships
Critical knowledge often gets lost with the retirement of experienced employees and few SMEs have structures to capture it. However, at the same time SMEs need to focus on fostering social relationships, as much of the important knowledge is informal and hard to document.
Recommendation: Use both documentation tools (e.g., digital platforms, videos, and written documents) and informal social settings to transfer knowledge.
Collaboration between different generations
Many of the strengths and weaknesses of younger and older employees complement each other well, for example, older employees’ expertise and younger employees’ comfort with digital tools. Mutual learning is a key benefit of collaboration between generations.
Recommendation: Encourage intergenerational collaboration, e.g., in the form of mentoring initiatives and intergenerational teams.
There are few age-specific management and HR-practices in place
Despite the urgency of retaining senior employees and their individual needs, most companies currently do not have dedicated strategies to support their senior employees in their late career stages.
Recommendation: Introduce tailored support measures for senior employees—such as dialogues, work adjustments, or mentoring roles—to proactively address their retention.
Qualitative insights into the region of Styria
Criticism in younger employees
We found tensions between older and younger employees to be connected to different ways of working, values, and communication styles. At times, older employees feel younger colleagues lack dedication or respect in how they speak and act at work. In contrast, in some companies the respect for senior employees is strong due to their work experience.
Recommendation: Create opportunities for shared learning to build trust and address misconceptions.
Systemic obstacles to working past retirement age
Many older employees in Styria would like to continue working, but face systemic issues:
Recommendation: Educate managers and employees on the broader legal, financial, and educational context.
Loyalty and commitment play a crucial role in retaining senior employees
In Styria, we found that company cultures that emphasize loyalty, encourage learning, and facilitate personal interaction help senior employees stay engaged. In some SMEs, we recognized that approachability amongst the colleagues supports knowledge exchange.
Recommendation: Promote a culture of belonging and long-term commitment. Support mentoring relationships and create regular spaces for cross-generational interaction.
Qualitative insights into the region of Hamburg
The workplace as a social anchor
For many older employees, the workplace provides purpose, structure, and social connection. Especially when facing loneliness after retirement (e.g., due to the death of a spouse), continuing employment can be appealing.
Recommendation: Provide flexibility to enable older professionals to keep working, as well as compassion and social support through major life events.
Financial considerations
While some older employees want to keep working, others need to—for financial reasons. Retirement isn’t always an option. On the employer side, part-time or project-based work by senior staff can offer a cost-effective way to meet specific needs. However, taxes and unclear policies around working post-retirement can be a barrier.
Recommendation: Educate managers and employees on the broader legal, financial, and educational context.
Qualitative insights into the region of Riga
Emigration
In Latvia, job opportunities for older employees vary across regions. In smaller towns and rural areas, limited work options push both young and older people to move to cities or abroad for better pay, healthcare, and support. This migration leaves local organisations with skill shortages and difficulties in attracting or keeping younger talent, as many who leave never return.
Recommendation: Make it easier for older employees to stay active in their home regions by offering flexible roles like remote or part-time work. Provide training opportunities that are accessible without long travel and encourage collaboration between younger and older employees to retain knowledge within the company.
Financial insecurity
In Latvia, many older employees would prefer to retire early but cannot afford to due to low pensions, rising living costs, and family responsibilities. Weak healthcare and social services add to the pressure, leaving many to stay in full-time work despite chronic fatigue, health issues, or emotional exhaustion, simply because they have no other financial option.
Recommendation: Offer part-time roles, reduced hours, or phased retirement to help older employees stay active without burning out. Provide healthcare support and adjust tasks to match physical ability, helping to improve wellbeing and support continued engagement.
Recruitment uncertainty
Recruitment in Latvia is often slow, unpredictable, and resource-heavy, with some processes ending without a suitable candidate found. In certain sectors, younger applicants avoid roles they don’t see as long-term career options, making planning difficult for employers. As a result, many organisations now focus on keeping experienced staff by offering retraining and adjusting tasks to fit changing abilities.
Recommendation: Focus on retaining experienced employees through professional development, flexible roles, and clear succession planning. Support mentoring and collaboration across generations to reduce the need for external recruitment.
Negative image of older professionals
Older professionals in Latvia are often stereotyped as slow, resistant to change, or lacking tech skills, which can lead to their contributions being undervalued. However, they are also seen as mature, emotionally stable, and better at connecting with clients. Combining their experience with younger employees' adaptability improves team performance and morale.
Recommendation: Challenge age-based stereotypes by encouraging collaboration between generations and recognising the strengths of older employees. Provide training and involve them in mentoring and supporting younger colleagues.
Qualitative insights into the region of Helsinki
High value of workplace infrastructure
In Finland, well-functioning tools and systems are seen as basic work essentials, especially in SMEs. Broken equipment can lower motivation and productivity, particularly for older employees. When things work properly, people feel respected and stay more engaged.
Recommendation: Invest in user-friendly tools and systems, making sure they are easy to use for older employees. Provide clear instructions with visuals for complex equipment and consider reassigning older staff to lighter tasks when needed.
Digital transformation
Digital tools are a growing part of everyday work in Finland. While younger employees adapt quickly, older workers often find frequent updates stressful and need more time and clearer explanations to adjust. Many are open to using new tools if they understand the purpose and feel supported. When the workplace culture encourages learning at all ages, digitalisation can become a useful tool rather than a barrier.
Recommendation: Provide step-by-step support when introducing new digital tools, and pair older employees with younger colleagues for mutual learning. Offer extra training if needed and create a workplace culture in which asking for help feels normal and safe.
Support of lifelong learning
Some Finnish SMEs encourage continuous learning through paid training, cost coverage, or time during work hours, helping older employees stay engaged. While some are open to practical training linked to their daily tasks, others prefer to stick to familiar routines, especially if they are close to retirement.
Recommendation: Offer older employees practical training and support knowledge transfer through mentoring, job shadowing, or task demonstrations. Encourage two-way learning and show appreciation through recognition or small gestures to help them feel motivated and valued.
Quantitative Results
Method & Descriptive Statistics
Design
Key Measures
Knowledge Sharing
This reflects how much employees are willing to pass on their expertise, experience, and practical tips to colleagues. In SMEs, this is crucial because knowledge often sits with a few key people. Strong sharing behavior helps prevent knowledge silos, ensures smoother onboarding, and builds a culture of collaboration where senior employees’ experience is actively transferred to others.
Knowledge Receiving
This captures employees’ openness to learning from colleagues and adopting new practices or insights. In SMEs, where flexibility and innovation are vital, being receptive to others’ knowledge allows teams to adapt quickly, spread good practices, and avoid “reinventing the wheel.” High receptiveness signals a workplace climate that values continuous learning and mutual support.
Organizational�Embeddedness
This refers to how strongly employees feel tied to their organisation — whether they see a good fit between their own values and the company’s culture, feel connected to colleagues, and recognize what they would give up if they left. For SMEs, high organizational embeddedness means employees are more likely to stay, contribute actively, and carry forward the firm’s culture and know-how.
Community�Embeddedness
This reflects how employees’ lives are intertwined with their local community — for example, personal networks, family ties, or services they rely on in the area. For SMEs, which are often deeply rooted in local contexts, strong community embeddedness helps anchor staff, making them less likely to move away and more likely to value stability in their job. It also strengthens the company’s role as part of the local community.
Job Satisfaction
This reflects how positively employees feel about their day-to-day work, tasks, and workplace environment. In SMEs, job satisfaction is closely tied to motivation, loyalty, and performance. When employees enjoy their work, they are more committed and less likely to look for opportunities elsewhere.
Life Satisfaction
This captures employees’ overall sense of contentment and balance in life, beyond the workplace. For SMEs, this matters because personal and professional spheres are often closely connected. When staff feel satisfied in life, they bring more energy, resilience, and stability to their roles — directly benefiting the organisation.
Psychological Capital
This measures an employee’s inner resources for motivation and resilience, captured through four components: self-efficacy (confidence in handling challenges), hope (ability to set and pursue goals), resilience (capacity to bounce back), and optimism (positive outlook on future success). For SMEs, where people often wear many hats, psychological capital is a powerful indicator of whether employees feel equipped to handle change and seize opportunities. High levels foster innovation, adaptability, and commitment.
Emotional Exhaustion
This reflects how drained and overextended employees feel after their work. It is the core dimension of burnout and signals when people’s emotional and psychological resources are depleted. For SMEs, paying attention to emotional exhaustion is vital: high levels reduce engagement, lower productivity, and can drive valued staff to leave. Recognizing and addressing it early helps protect both employee well-being and organizational performance.
Workplace Inclusivity
This measures the extent to which older employees feel valued, respected, and treated with dignity in the organization. For SMEs, inclusiveness is key to making sure senior staff remain engaged and motivated. When older workers perceive that their contributions are recognized, they are more willing to share expertise and stay committed to the organization.
Intergenerational�Communication
This scale looks at the quality of interactions between employees of different age groups — how well they collaborate, exchange ideas, and support each other. For SMEs, good intergenerational communication builds trust and reduces misunderstandings, while fostering a culture of mutual learning. Strong cross-age collaboration ensures that valuable knowledge flows both ways, strengthening innovation and team performance.
Use of Generative AI
Need for Growth
Work Engagement
Innovative Output
Workplace Flexibility
Thank you for contributing to our research and advancing our knowledge about aging at work.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch!
Kristaps Kovalonoks �Research Coordinator,�Aalto University School of Business�kristaps.kovalonoks@aalto.fi
senior-talent.eu
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or OeAD-GmbH. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.�Project N° 2023-1-AT01-KA220-VET-000157913