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The Adecco Institute presented the Demographic Fitness Survey 2007, the second survey on the topic of demographic change in Europe, in Brussels in January, 2008. The Demographic Fitness Survey 2007 is based upon 2506 interviews with companies of all sizes in the five major European economies (Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Spain), covering a minimum of 500 companies per country. This White Paper presents a detailed analysis of the results from the 502 companies surveyed in Germany. German companies made greater strides in addressing Demographic Fitness than any of the other countries studied in the 2007 survey. Germany’s Demographic Fitness Index increased from 181 in 2006 to 186 in 2007 (out of a maximum of 400 points). While the overall scores still indicate that companies (German and others) are sorely unprepared for the demographic inevitability of an aging workforce, Germany’s slight increase indicates that the message is starting to get through. The issue of population ageing is real. In less than ten years’ time, people over 40 will, for the first time in history, form the demographic majority in Europe. The change in Germany’s demographic structure is aptly communicated by a review of how Germany’s population structure has changed since 1950. In 1950, Germany’s Population Distribution Chart was a typical pyramid, with the majority of the population young. In 2010, we see a dramatic shift, with the population density shifting to middle-agers, and by 2050, we see a distinct shift of the population into the 40+ range.
These charts tell us two things: not only will the German population have an unprecedented number of older people, but fewer and fewer young people. More developed countries, in general, are facing a talent shortage that is not expected to be filled either by the young or by immigration. This demographic trend will put an enormous burden on a shrinking proportion of the population unless we re-engage the ageing workforce – and companies will have to change their policies and attitudes to adapt to a very different workforce structure in order to merely survive. The Demographic Fitness Survey assesses the extent to which companies are preparing for this change. Our results to date indicate that while awareness is growing, action is still lacking. With our survey, we hope to encourage companies to take specific steps to improve their competitiveness in a global economy; to optimize the participation of their aging workforce to keep the engine of corporate growth running.
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