We all know people who have retired early. They clutter up the golf courses midweek and they have a permanent tan, because they’ve just got back from a cultural excursion in Florence or visiting relations in Australia.
Appreciate them, because they are an endangered species. In fact there is a vocal lobby to allow staff to extend their working lives way after the age of 65.
In the UK, a company is legally entitled to dismiss anyone who has reached that age without any redundancy payment. Anyone who reaches 65 and wants to continue to work can request to work on, at their employer’s discretion.
Charities Age Concern and Help the Aged have entered court battles to fight this dismissal of elderly workers and the UK government has announced it is bringing a review of the law forward, to address the concerns of a growing number of people who want to work on after they reach the current retirement age.
The CBI warns against scrapping the current rules on the default retirement age, saying 81 per cent of those workers who request to be kept on have their wish granted.
If this is the case, it seems the current rules are suiting the needs of elderly workers, but then why are so many others going to court over the issue if everyone is happy. Even so, there are a number of things to consider which may upset things.
- The UK worker demographic is being weighted more towards older employees, because of falling birth rates.
- The yield from pension savings has decreased, and so have employer contributions.
- A large proportion of workers have not set aside enough to provide a decent living after retirement anyway.
- In key areas, the UK education system has failed to renew the required skill-base and some professions are almost dying arts.
- The general health and life expectancy of the UK population has improved, making more over-65s still quite capable of performing work.
There is a real possibility that even if they want to retire, many employees will need to carry on working to get their pensions to the required levels when they eventually become infirm and physically cannot work any longer. On top of this, they may retain valuable skills that are in short supply.
On the other hand, taking it for granted people should have to work until they drop is a distasteful prospect when it’s become an accepted norm in UK society that everyone has a right to a few years in relative comfort to enjoy life without having to work.
The government is right to bring its review of the retirement age forward, because it’s an issue that can’t be dodged. Companies also need to consider the implications of an older workforce early.
Besides the healthcare issue, what rewards motivate older people? What psychological maladies are they susceptible to? How do they react to stress? How do they feel about being managed by someone 30 or 40 years their junior?
These questions may have surfaced before in isolated cases, but as the numbers grow, they will apply to a more significant proportion of the workforce.
