A Quarter of UK Workers Want Employer to Create Flexible Role to Help them Work into Retirement
61% of workers are planning to continue working if they haven’t managed to save enough money by the time they reach their target retirement age. More than one in three (36%) plan to continue working in their current role until they have enough saved, 28% expect their employer to create a part time or flexible role, while 9% expect to become self employed.
The workers who expect their employer to create a flexible role for them work in industries such as: healthcare (40%), administrative (31%) and engineering/manufacturing (32%); whereas those who work in the creative arts and design sector (32%) are more inclined to become self employed and start up their own businesses.
These findings coincide with a number of recent studies that point to a longer retirement for UK workers, where living beyond 100 will become much more common for children born within the next generation. The latest survey showed that 58% of those surveyed in 2012 – 2014 now believe they will retire aged 65 – 69, up from 54% in the two years previous to that.
UK workers are becoming more aware and accepting the fact that they may have to work for longer than they expected, as 93% of the UK public are falling behind on their retirement savings. Most people would prefer to carry on working, rather than dip into their pension savings, with only 8% of UK professionals approaching 55 years of age planning to take a lump sum as they near retirement.
Creating a flexible and inclusive workplace strategy won’t only benefit those working longer to hit their savings targets, but will also prove good for businesses – adding £100 billion to UK productivity. However, these benefits to the economy should not mean older people are made to work longer; it should be a matter of free choice as to whether they continue working and not just down to their lack of savings.
Peoples expectations of retirement age varies – with Finance professionals (who earn the highest average salary) expect to retire at the earliest age – 62, whilst those who earn lower salaries such as teachers, expect to retire later at 64. IT professionals earn roughly the same average salary as those in Finance; however they are looking to retire when they are 63.
People may be being ambitious in their target retirement ages, but around a third of UK workers are still confident about hitting this target. 25% are concerned about retiring later than initially planned, whilst 39% were neither confident nor concerned.
Source: onrec.com
