United Kingdom: 50 Plus Workers Want To Retire Earlier, Note Career Stagnation

A survey conducted by the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) and Cranfield School of Management reports that even though mandatory retirement will end in the United Kingdom and the retirement age will rise to 66 in 2020, on average workers want to retire at 61. In addition, the study--"Change at any Age"--finds that there is considerable stagnation in the careers of many over 50s, and many employers are not currently doing enough to prevent this and the loss of skills and attitudinal problems that result.

The study noted the stagnation in different trends. For example, the average time since individuals had made their last transition was, for those under 30 year olds, 12 months, while it was 28 months for for 31-50 year olds, and 37 months for over 50 year olds. In addition, while romotions were the most common form of career transition overall, older workers were less likely to have been promoted outside of their current business unit. Older workers were also more likely to have reduced the number of hours that they work.

Rachel Krys, Campaign Director at the Employers Forum on Age, comments: "As employment rates have risen in the past decade, there are now a lot more people remaining in their jobs for longer before they retire. However, our study tells us that many employers do not have the correct measures in place to motivate older workers and help them develop. This means that apathy may set in amongst the workforce once it reaches a certain age, which has a detrimental effect on both individuals' own working lives and those around them. Workers now need to have more than one career in their lifetime to keep them motivated as they get older, so therefore many employers must change the way they manage people in the future."

Source: Employers Forum on Age Press Release (November 11, 2010)