And with increasing life expectancies and declining birth rates, businesses should also recognise the value in retaining the skills of an older workforce.Those are some of the key findings of some major global research by HSBC Bank.The study, which examined individuals' attitudes to retirement in ten countries, found that 80 per cent of people overall were against mandatory retirement and wanted to be able to work to any age providing they were still capable of doing their jobs well.It also found that 15 per cent of respondents in Britain would prefer to go back and forth between periods of retirement and work, while a further 36 per cent would like to continue working part-time.There was also a strong consensus (71 per cent across the countries asked) that entering old age was marked by the way you felt, rather than the age you retired."This new way of thinking highlighted by the research should change the way governments, companies and financial institutions deal with ageing and retirement," said Dr Ken Dychtwald, president of Age Wave, the US-based consultancy that managed the research for HSBC."Instead of adhering to the traditional model where individuals go to school, spend many years working and then retire, we need to think about a truly blended life plan where people can cycle through periods of work, leisure and education."UK legislation currently sets a default retirement age of 65, but employers are able to set their own earlier retirement age if they can show it is justifiable.Whatever age is set, employees can request to work longer and employers must seriously consider this request.The Department of Trade and Industry has said it will review the retirement age over the next five years.Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern England, said the HSBC research chimed with its own studies which showed that three quarters of people thought compulsory retirement ages were old-fashioned and unnecessary."Axing fixed retirement ages would improve economic productivity and offer an energised and industrious way of approaching later life," Lishman added.
(c) Business Hotline Publications Ltd 2005
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