In collaboration with a group of international colleagues from the 5C collaborative (www.5c.careers), I have studied employability, defined as an individual’s perception of being able to find alternative jobs in the external labour market. I have investigated this topic with special attention to older workers, due to the fact that individuals are required to work longer in their life; and yet, paradoxically, when they grow older they face great discriminations when looking for employment or re-employment. We ran a survey in 30 countries and collected responses from over 9000 individuals employed in managerial or professional jobs. Analysing those data, we were able to show that older workers perceive a disadvantage in terms of external employability, but that having experienced developmental activities throughout their careers alleviates this situation.
