- The World Health Organisation (WHO) maintains that ageism "has serious and far-reaching consequences for health, well-being and human rights."
- The Generación SAVIA project, of the Endesa Foundation in collaboration with Máshumano Foundation, accompanies professionals over 50 years of age to transform this process into opportunities for growth and personal projection.
For World Mental Health Day, which will be celebrated on 10 October, Generación SAVIA, the project developed by the Endesa Foundation in collaboration with the máshumano Foundation to give visibility to senior talent, wants to focus on the impact and direct consequences on health derived in the group of workers over 50 years of age due to job loss. The latest report on ageism, prepared by the World Health Organisation, warns that this reality "has serious and far-reaching effects on health, well-being and human rights." A situation that, according to the latest available data from the EPA Active Population Survey, could affect the nearly 950,000 unemployed people over the age of 50 in Spain.
The experts of Generación SAVIA emphasise that loss of employment can lead to a grieving process that can result in other negative circumstances for workers over 50 years of age, such as the loss of personal identity, social ties, purchasing power, social status or routines. For this reason, "it is essential to transform these types of negative or unpleasant situations into opportunities for growth and personal projection, through an adequate learning process," says Macarena Martini, counselor in grief processes and collaborator of Generación SAVIA.
A better understanding of the phases after job loss is essential for the expert consulted by Generación SAVIA. She recalls that "shock and initial paralysis are followed by stages of denial and rejection, anger and rebellion, fear and negotiation, as well as sadness and depression. Subsequently, moments of acceptance, search for meaning and resignification will creep up, lastly followed by integration and learning".
States of blockage and apathy, as well as haste when starting the job search, can mean the loss of valuable job opportunities in the medium or long term. For this reason, Martini recommends a certain time and space "to analyse needs and the professional and personal trajectory until the moment of the loss of employment, and to assess the impact of what was lost. In this way, valuable learnings for life can be extracted from the grieving process."
"The loss of a job can affect the confidence and security of these professionals, despite their talent and experience. Therefore, we have a duty as a society to help senior talent transform this process into opportunities for growth and personal projection", explains Javier Blanco, general director of the Endesa Foundation. "Generación SAVIA offers professionals unemployed over 50-year-olds, tools and resources for orientation and accompaniment that help them overcome this phase".
The role that companies play in this process is especially relevant "putting the necessary mechanisms in place to carry out a correct management of senior talent when they form part of the company and when they lose their job, which is essential," says Tomás Pereda, deputy general director of Fundación máshumano and HR senior advisor. "That unwanted moment must be processed with the greatest possible humanity, putting people at the centre and offering them support to face new challenges."
About Generation SAVIA
Generación SAVIA, the Endesa Foundation and Máshumano Foundation project, has been promoting the employability of workers over the age of 50 for more than two years, providing solutions through courses, training and networking actions, and promoting recognition of the value of these professionals, who have a high rate of unemployment. SAVIA is a platform and community in which collaborative spaces are created and initiatives come together to create job opportunities for senior professionals. It also offers human resources solutions to the Spanish social and business fabric. Nearly 33,000 senior professionals and 500 companies are registered with SAVIA. 180 entities also collaborate on the project.