Savia celebrates first year with 16,000 professionals registered on its senior employment promotion platform

• The initiative from Fundación Endesa and Fundación Máshumano aims to improve professionals' employability and encourage regulatory and social changes to combat ageism.
• The celebration included a summary of what the initiative has achieved in the past year, a round table on best practices and a live walk-through of the "Savia Way".
• Experts in the labour market have highlighted the need to change the HR management model so that it captures talent, rather than employees, and so that it places importance on developing strategies for retraining, digital visibility and networking for senior professionals. 

Endesa's headquarters in Madrid became the site of a celebration today on the first anniversary of Savia's creation. The event was presided over by the president of Endesa and of the Fundación Endesa, Juan Sánchez-Calero. It was attended by over 200 people (seniors, HR managers, representatives from collaborating entities, etc.) One initiative of the Fundación Endesa, in collaboration with the Fundación Máshumano, is to boost the employability of senior professionals in Spain; the platform already has 16,000 registered users.

The day of celebration began with a summary of Savia's first year in operation, led by Director of Projects for the Fundación Endesa, Gloria Juste, and president of the Fundación Máshumano, María Sánchez-Arjona, who noted that "organisations must accompany and listen to their employees during times of change, so that they can be professionally retrained and find new employment opportunities. The administration, too, must spearhead initiatives that encourage this kind of best practice among businesses."

Gloria Juste explained how "in the exhaustive research that was carried out before the project launch, three words were repeated over and over again when describing senior employment: disorientation, discouragement and loneliness. The Savia Way is a roadmap that guides seniors in every phase to orient them, motivate them and accompany them during this process, which is based on the five concepts that form our name: Serenity, Analysis, Vision, Impact and Alliance."

After this presentation, experts in the labour market held a round table to review "National and international trends and best practices in senior talent management". Moderated by Francisco García Cabello, founder and general director of the Human Resources Forum and managing partner of AZC Global, the round table included contributions from Alfonso Jiménez, managing partner of People Matters, Javier Ruiz de Azcárate, president of Catenon, and Sarah Harmon, future CEO of Habitissimo.

Jiménez reviewed the figures on ageing and unemployment for various regions and countries, highlighting that "Europe is ageing more than the rest of the planet, but that reality clashes with the basic strategy for managing people in countries in Southern Europe, such as Spain, where older people have been removed from companies to make room for younger employees. Youth unemployment is now practically on par with what it was before the financial crisis, and senior unemployment has increased by 100% in ten years. We have to do something about this situation".

Meanwhile, Sarah Harmon noted that "it is important for seniors to be willing to go outside of their comfort zone. I do worry that some organisations make retraining tools available to workers, and then most of the workers don't use them. But besides retraining, networking is very important, as is visibility in the digital world. Ninety-five percent of recruiters look for talent on online networks".

Javier Rúiz de Azcárate explained that "capturing talent isn't the same thing as capturing employees. Senior talent can function on a project-by-project basis, as external talent. Spanish businesses should break the talent recruitment model and understand that they need to hire talent, not employees".

The event concluded with a video presentation and participation from many seniors who have successfully improved their employability thanks to the resources and tools available on the SAVIA Generation website, from going back to work to starting their own projects.

Afterwards, the attendees were able to get a first-hand experience of the Savia Way, discovering resources and tools that, in various stages, are made available to senior professionals so that they can improve their employability. Those present in the area's exhibition space included over 100 entities and businesses who collaborate with Savia on matters such as training, employment, entrepreneurship and new ways of working.

Also present at the event were Jordi Pascual Sr and Jordi Pascual Jr, creators of the #Contrataamipadre ("Hire my father") campaign, which went viral on social media, a successful wake-up call about professional ageism. Thanks to this visibility, Jordi Pascual Sr was able to return to work. Also present at the SAVIA anniversary party were Santiago Requejo, director, and Carlos Iglesias, one of the stars of the film "@buelos", which addresses senior entrepreneurship in a humorous fashion.