Fill In the Blanks

So how do we prevent a mass exodus from work to retirement?

For a start, we need to change our concept of 'retirement', and we need to change mindsets arising from earlier government policy which, in the face of high unemployment levels, encouraged mature workers to take early retirement. Today, government encourages them to delay their retirement.

We now need to think of retirement as a phased process, where mature age workers gradually reduce their hours, and where they have considerable flexibility in how they combine their work and non-work time.

We also need to recognise the broader change that is occurring in how people work, learn, and live. Increasingly we are moving away from a linear relationship between education, training, work, and retirement, as people move in and out of jobs, careers, caregiving, study, and leisure. Employers of choice remove the barriers between the different segments of people's lives, by creating flexible conditions of work and a range of leave entitlements. They take an individualised approach to workforce planning and development so that the needs of employers and employees can be met simultaneously .