An increasing number of pensioners continue to work in retirement. Some are recruited by companies because of staff shortages. Others have to continue working because their pension is not enough.
Every morning at 4:15 a.m., pensioner Egon Wittersheim’s alarm clock rings. The 65-year-old is back in his old job at the BonnOrange waste management company and drives the 26-ton organic waste collection vehicle through the city’s narrow streets. After 28 years, he knows the tour inside and out.
He has actually been retired since the beginning of the year. But in April his employer wrote to him and asked whether he could imagine helping out for a few months. “I didn’t have anything else planned, my family agreed, so I called the next day,” says Wittersheim. He now has a contract until the end of the year and is working full time again.
There is a lack of offspring
BonnOrange has brought back several retired employees. There are currently not enough young drivers within the company. Some employees are currently undergoing training. But it will still be months before they are able to drive the garbage trucks safely through the city center.
The company also saw no chance on the open market. “It is almost impossible to get a driver who can drive a waste collection vehicle for this exact job,” explains company spokesman Jérôme Lefèvre.
In the next 0 years, many more employees at BonnOrange will retire. If replacements cannot be filled in a timely manner due to the shortage of skilled workers, then BonnOrange also wants to continue to bring pensioners back to work. “After this successful experiment, this is now definitely part of our toolbox,” says Lefèvre.
Double income as an incentive
Egon Wittersheim also benefits. In addition to his pension, he also receives his full salary. For early retirees, the additional earnings limit was no longer applicable at the beginning of the year. This means that the pension will no longer be reduced if a salary exceeds 6,300 euros per year.
The double income from pension and salary should be an incentive. With the reform, the federal government has recognized that pensioners are needed on the labor market.
Majority of working pensioners with mini-jobs
The number of pensioners in Germany who continue to work is increasing. According to the Federal Ministry of Labor, 1,123,000 workers nationwide are currently older than 67 years. At the end of 2022 there were 56,000 fewer. The vast majority work a 520 euro mini-job.
Some use this to make the transition from working to retirement flexible. Bernd Lohmüller from the employment agency in Bonn is familiar with such cases. “But on the other hand, there are also pensioners who need the money and continue to work out of necessity,” he says.
Low wage sector is called a small pension
The same goes for Wolfgang Dahl. At some point, the trained roofer and locksmith was no longer able to work in his profession for health reasons. He then slipped into the low-wage sector. Despite 48 years of work, he receives a small pension of 1,200 euros. “If I were alone and couldn’t live with my partner, I would have to top up with social assistance.”
The rent for the 66 square meter apartment in Münster and the now high food prices are eating up the money we have together. That’s why the 69-year-old keeps taking on retirement jobs. Most recently, he packaged medical products for seven hours three times a week in a company. Of the 25 employees there, four were pensioners, he reports.
What does the doctor say?
His wife, 70 years old, also continues to work. Both still have liabilities that need to be paid off. “Only then will we reduce our work activities. Even if we then have to live more modestly,” says Dahl.
Driver Wittersheim will not help out again after six months. His doctor advised him against it. “If I didn’t sit on the rocking trestle for so long, then I wouldn’t have certain symptoms, the doctor said. Then you should listen to it.”