Following the publication of Aviva’s real retirement report, which reveals that 68% of UK adults intend to work beyond their current retirement age, Owen Warnock, partner at international law firm Eversheds has offered feedback; looking at how this can be reconciled with the results of research conducted by the firm which gives a very different perspective from employers.
Mr Warnock said “According to our research, the vast majority of employers (73%) want to keep the default retirement age in place. However, the evidence strongly suggests that they only want to keep the status quo as a reserve power, with employers showing a willingness to allow most employees to continue to work beyond the age of 65. In our experience, the vast majority of UK employers understand the benefits of a varied workforce, and a number of respondents to our survey specifically highlighted the value of the experience that older workers bring to a team. Rather than forcing people out of work, employers seem to view the current retirement age as a backstop to allow for workforce planning and dealing with issues of poor performance.
“Eversheds research, conducted among 250 senior managers and HR professionals, revealed that almost a quarter of employers (24%) usually accept requests to work beyond normal retirement age, while 68% consider requests on an individual basis. Only a small proportion of employers (8%) said they usually decline requests to work beyond 65.”
