What were your objectives when launching negotiations for an agreement on older workers?
At La Poste, our average age is 49, and 30% of our workforce is aged 56 or over, meaning we have a significant population of older workers. As such, I felt it was essential to address the issue before any law was promulgated, even though we waited for the social partners to finish their negotiations. We did not have a legal obligation to negotiate, so this was a proactive move rather than a reactive one.
Together with various HR stakeholders, we collectively agreed that treating older workers as a monolithic group—similar to how we discuss “young people”—was inappropriate, as it covers diverse realities. These employees do not have the same aspirations because they do not have the same roles, professional backgrounds, or personal histories. It is a specific demographic due to age, but that does not mean all older workers should be treated identically. This approach implicitly allows us to move beyond age-based stigmatisation. At 55, some employees still want to progress and develop; others are looking forward to retirement. We therefore sought to offer solutions based on individual needs. This is a specific paradigm shift: social agreements often tend towards massification and overlook the individual, yet HR policies are more effective when they take personal circumstances into account.
How did you implement this distinction?
There are three main categories of older workers: those who do not wish to change roles, those who want to accelerate their career progression, and those seeking to reduce their working hours and prepare for retirement. For all three, the agreement’s philosophy is underpinned by the quality of life and working conditions. We particularly wanted to account for physically demanding roles and adopt a logic of individual adaptation, emphasising “work sustainability.”
When mid-career medical check-ups, combined with a professional development interview, detect physical issues—such as back pain—we offer internal retraining paths known as “pioneer paths.”
