Liudmyla Butylevska, 67, has decided to turn a new page in her career.
For most of her life, she worked as a safety engineer. Then, she retired. Now, she is an insurance agent at one of the largest medical insurance companies in Ukraine, Ingo.
This new challenge, however, is not only about earning money. She wants to feel needed in society, that she can contribute regardless of her age.
“The opportunity to be active is what attracts me the most,” Butylevska said.
Butylevska is a beneficiary of the project Trudolyub, a Kyiv-based charity that works closely with men and women of her age to help them find jobs.
Demographic challenge
According to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, nearly 11.5 million of the country’s 42 million citizens have reached the official retirement age, which varies from 60 to 65 depending on their type of work.
But state benefits for pensioners remain low. The minimum state pension is Hr 1,564 ($61) per month, which the government claims is equal to the cost of living. Many Ukrainian pensioners complain about their quality of life and the rising cost of utilities.
Ukraine has another challenge, too. Among people who are over 45 years old, some 43 percent are unemployed. There are various reasons for this high rate of unemployment, and age is not the least among them. And while many European countries see the employment rate of 55-64 year-olds rising, Ukrainians struggle with age prejudice in the workplace.
Oleksandr Melnychuk, a spokesperson for Ingo Ukraine, told the Kyiv Post that extensive experience and an established professional networks are the main advantages older employees bring to the workplace.
“They have a better understanding of the necessity of life insurance and can explain it to others,” Melnychuk added.
In April, Ingo Ukraine took part in Trudolyub (“hard worker” in Ukrainian) which aims to help retirees fight ageism – discrimination based on a person’s age.
The company established training courses on financial literacy and the fundamental principles of selling insurance for two groups of 12 participants who are all over 55 years old.
After the courses, a few of them signed cooperation agreements with the company and now work part-time as insurance agents.
Butylevska says that the part-time job is attractive to her because it allows her to remain active but also to have time for household chores.
Apart from Butylevska, 35 more pensioners have already found workplaces thanks to Trudolyub, which is organized by the charity foundation Zhyttelyub (“life-lover”).
Founded in 2013 by business partners Garik Korogodsky and Tina Mykhailovska, who now run it, the foundation has a few projects aimed at supporting retired people. It distributes hot lunches, organizes outdoor activities and puts together teams of “Super-Grandchildren” — young volunteers — to help carry out different projects.
Battle against stereotypes
“The main aim of Trudolyub (is) to start a social trend and show to young employees that people over 50 are motivated and skilled enough to continue working despite their age,” says Mykhailovska.
In her opinion, there is a widespread stereotype that people over 50 are not well-qualified workers, and their knowledge is not relevant in the digitalized working world.
At the same time, retirees tend to underestimate their experience and feel pessimistic, assuming that they will not be paid well for their work.
Mykhailovska says that she realized her personal motivation to start the Trudolyub initiative after visiting America.
“I saw a specially equipped checkout desk (in a store) where visitors were served by an 80-year-old man and his younger assistant. There was a long queue near this desk, because people wanted to support and show respect to a retiree.”
In Mykhailovska’s opinion, the social tendency to hire older job applicants is still undeveloped in Ukraine. The project Trudolyub is aimed at changing the current situation.
Started in 2018, the project proposes free courses in copywriting, social media management, computer literacy and sales to retirees.
According to Mykhailovska, the project cooperates with the job search platform Work.ua, which includes more than 10,000 CVs of people over 55 years old, according to the company’s website.
On their official Facebook page, managers of Trudolyub regularly post job vacancies of the week from employers who are ready to hire older workers. Moreover, retirees have the option of visiting practical workshops and lectures, where they can learn how to create a CV, understand their professional strengths and choose a career direction.
Trudolyub says it has received more than 1,000 job applications from retirees. Project managers research these applications and look for appropriate job vacancies to suggest to candidates. They also help to make applicants’ communication with potential employers more effective.
“We also talk about Trudolyub at events that gather many employers and suggest they take part in the project. In some ways, we do a manual search,” Mykhailovska told the Kyiv Post.
Ukrainian telecommunications company Kyivstar, the First Private Brewery company, and the TLS Contact Visa Application Centre are among the companies that have already taken part in the project and proposed jobs for candidates over 55 years.
Experienced and needed
Human resources specialist Anna Ryznichenko works at Giunti Psychometrics Ukraine, a company that operates in the field of career guidance, selection, evaluation and people analytics. She says that the situation with ageism at workplaces is gradually changing in large cities. Now, some companies are ready to hire 55- to 65-year-old candidates.
In Ryznichenko’s opinion, retirees can work as sales managers, social media managers, accountants, security guards, and copywriters.
However, because of the impact of ageism, many of them are afraid to continue their career development and learn about new professions.
“For now, the question is whether they (retirees) are ready to overcome ageist stereotypes and realize themselves in different areas,” Ryznichenko says.
According to her, older employees are more stress resistant, responsible and scrupulous. They also usually do not combine developing their careers with raising children.
At the same time, Mykhailovska adds that, unlike the younger generation, older people are motivated not only by their salary, but also by the desire to feel that they are still needed in society.
“People who come to us are motivated by both material and psychological needs. Their children and grandchildren have grown up and they find themselves in a social vacuum. That’s why finding a workplace for them is a question of socialization too.”
Now Trudolyub plans to find and cooperate with new companies that are ready to hire 55- to 65-year-old candidates. In Mykhailovska’s opinion, it may help retirees to learn more about present-day professions and stay in touch with the modern world.
“When I’m 60 years old, I hope retirees will not have to fight for their right to work,” Mykhailovska told the Kyiv Post.
