September
 What do you see as the pros and cons of a default retirement age?
Mike Duncan - Skills Development director at OPITO
Having a capped retirement age poses a number of challenges as companies need to carefully balance where the critical issues lie in terms of their skills and knowledge base. Identifying the scale of the issues they will face in the future is vital – not just across industries but across individual disciplines - so organisations can pinpoint where they may have potential demographic timebombs.
Retaining the knowledge base of the older generation is critical in recycling those skills back into the next generation. They’ve also a key role in developing, mentoring and training new recruits however in industries, like oil and gas, where technology is rapidly evolving, the younger generation can have a role to play in introducing new skills.
Until we can identify where the skills issues of the future lie and set in motion measures to address them, there is the danger that critical skills and experience may be lost which could be hard to replace quickly.
Bill Stalker - European Projects coordinator, Aberdeen College
I obviously have a vested interest in this topic as I often think I have the mind of a 20 year old encased in the body of a 63 year old. I am very lucky, however, as I still feel fit and energetic and totally enthusiastic about my job which entails sourcing European funding for the College and developing lecturer and student study tours and exchanges with other European educational Institutes.
Like most public sector bodies the College has a default retirement age of 65 and we are happy that many people do still want to work here beyond 65.
I would never wish to deprive a younger person of a job (especially in a period of high unemployment) but I think if people of my age and older are still competent and committed and can give wise counsel then there should be a place for them in the workforce.
People are, after all, living longer and living more healthily and ageism is as harmful and divisive in our society as sexism or racism.
 Jim Mitchell, Managing Director, JKM Property Services
At JKM Property Services we welcome the idea of granting workers with the right to remain in employment beyond the age of 65. The issue is particularly relevant to the construction industry, which has suffered from a lack of investment in learning and development in recent years. In response, members of the older generation have proved invaluable in sharing their knowledge with new recruits. It is beneficial for us to nurture the employees and skills sets that we have, regardless of age. Our buyer, Alec Irvine, is almost 64-years-old and is a tremendous asset to the business. In his case, abolishing the statutory retirement age would mean that he could prolong his career as long as he is willing and able and JKM could continue to benefit from his expertise. Naturally, we need to ensure that staff do not feel forced into working longer and it is essential that a company properly plans for and provides sufficiently for these employees.
 Campbell Urquhart, Managing Director, The Urquhart Partnership Ltd
My 80 year old father still works full time and loves his job, so I’m all in favour. I think that everyone should have the right to choose when they want to retire and not have it forced upon them. There is clearly an increasing strain on pension funds in the UK. Combine this with the fact that the average life expectancy has risen by approximately six years over the last three decades - and likely to continue to increase - then this leads to a steadily diminishing pensions pot.
By allowing people to continue to work past retirement age they can still contribute to the economy and have the opportunity to further enhance their own personal pension fund. I’d personally like to move away from the current state pension model and instead provide everyone with their own personal pension that is part state contribution, topped up with personal and employer contributions. |
