Poland's new premier: firms must employ older workers, too

Photo: Poland's new premier: firms must employ older workers, too

Poland’s new prime minister became an editor-in-chief for Thursday's edition of the country's best-selling newspaper to appeal to employers to use the skill and experience of older workers.

In the Fakt tabloid, Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged Polish business owners to give jobs to over-50s, who have often been seen as less adaptable than younger workers since 1989, when the country began its transition from communism to a capitalist economy.

The front-page headline read "We are 50 years old. We want to work," while the tabloid carried stories of people over 50 recounting the age prejudice they have faced on the labor market.

Tusk led the Wednesday editorial staff meeting at the newspaper's Warsaw headquarters and selected stories and pictures, fulfilling a promise made before he became prime minister.

"The best example that one can be successful over 50 is myself," Tusk, 50, wrote in a page-two editorial.

"Mature employees ... always work thoroughly. Their children have left home, and they can therefore devote themselves to their work," he argued, adding that "often they are even more fit physically than younger employees."

Fakt, owned by German-based Axel Springer AG, has a daily circulation of some 670,000. It carries frequent exposes of misbehavior by politicians, along with sensational stories.

A major change in Thursday's issue was the lack of a photograph of a topless woman, usually featured on the last page.

Tusk and his coalition Cabinet were sworn in Nov. 16 after his pro-business Civic Platform party won October elections, ousting conservative Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.