Despite a shortage of skilled workers: one in three people over 50 want to retire early
A more flexible working time is what over 73.7% of the interviewees over 50 years old desire, according to the Institute for Occupational Health Consulting, which surveyed over a thousand employees, as well as human resources managers and executives from over 300 companies on behalf of the TK in January.
For businesses, the retention of older employees is increasingly important. Over three quarters of the surveyed companies stated that the retention of older employees will play a major role in the coming three years. Nearly half of the companies expect more than a quarter of their workforce to retire in the next five years.
Besides, health is a significant factor for longer working hours. According to TK data, around 11% of employees remain employed beyond the regular retirement age. A clear correlation is evident between sick days in younger years and working longer after the regular retirement age.
Of the employees who did not report any sick days in 2012, 14.1% were still working after their regular retirement age. Of those who were sick for 43 days or more, only 7.1% were still working. On average, employees over 50 had ten more absences than younger employees in the previous year.
The Institute for Applied Quality Development and Research in Health Care evaluated accounting data from over 420,000 TK insured employees born between 1948 and 1956, who reached or passed the age of 67 between 2014 and 2023.
Everyone mentioned a preference for more flexible working hours in Berlin, as revealed by the TC survey among 50-year-olds. TKK's data shows that a significant number of 50-year-olds continue working past retirement age due to a shortage of skilled workers, contributing to the Skills shortage in Germany. Despite the health concerns and increased sick days among older workers, many companies are retaining them to mitigate the potential shortage. Over a quarter of the workforce in these companies is expected to retire within the next five years.
