The fact is that 50+ is the new age of success because of the accumulated experience, professional maturity and knowledge acquired not only from a textbook, but from life. This was stated by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Natalia Efremova at the opening of the forum “Young Talents 50+” in Sofia. According to her, this huge potential must be used by being supported to retain the labor market in the context of negative demographic trends.
Minister Efremova noted that demography changes not only the future, it changes the present. “At the end of 2025, people over the age of 65 in Bulgaria will be over 1.5 million. At the same time, we have a very strongly decreasing working-age population. This is the reason why we pay a lot of attention to the issue of how to attract and retain all people in the labor market“, said the minister.
According to Efremova, people over 50 years old can still start a completely new activity or build on already acquired knowledge and skills. “Regardless of what experience we have as professionals, artificial intelligence and new technologies in the labor market require us to constantly build on our skills, to never stop developing them“, she emphasized.
As the main commitment of the institutions to retain people in the labor market, Minister Efremova noted the creation of opportunities for lifelong learning, support for active entrepreneurs and upgrading skills. She gave an example of different professions in which, despite experience, specialists in them need to acquire new skills, most often digital ones: “An electrician with 30 years of experience, who can do his job very well, in order to remain active in the labor market, will have to upgrade his skills in working with new technologies. A sales consultant will have to deal with online sales“.
Natalia Efremova noted that often older workers also have commitments at home - to children and elderly parents, which can make them less confident in their work and in competing with the younger generation. “The fact is that this generation brings its energy, the new, the different way it does its work to different professions. But nothing can replace the experience that people over 50 have accumulated over time“, Minister Efremova was categorical. And she called on employers to take advantage of this important experience, drawing attention to the fact that because of it, older workers can be the best mentors for young people.
The Minister of Labor and Social Policy announced national programs and measures financed with European funds to support both employers and job seekers and the employed. “We can provide support related to subsidized employment, training of personnel in a work environment, free training and everything we need to know in today's technological world, in the world of changes related to the green transition, and in general in the world of the new type of work that each of us does in a new way“, noted Efremova.