Retirement is postponing, everything is decided. By the end of the decade, you will retire at the age of 67 in order to financially stabilize the statutory pension fund through longer work. The retirement age from which one receives full earnings has been rising for years. A new survey shows which problems are looming. A majority of those in employment do not want to work that long, nor do they consider themselves able to do so. At the same time, she fears that in old age her money will not be enough. That makes it clear what huge changes the country needs – in the world of work as well as in pension policy.
As far as the world of work is concerned, it is worth taking a closer look at the survey. According to this, most of them want to leave their jobs by the age of 62 at the latest. In a society whose citizens are getting older and therefore want to receive pensions for longer and longer, this cannot be financed. What to do? The survey also shows that many would like to stay longer in their job if it changes: less physical strain, less stress, more salary, more appreciation.
Achieving all of this is challenging but possible. Physically heavy work can often be done by machines. Some stress can be avoided if companies neither rush nor thin out their staff. More wages would be appropriate especially in the swollen low-wage sector. And those superiors would have to learn to appreciate who have previously paid homage to the principle of “not being scolded enough”.
The boss only cares about the younger ones? It can also be different
Sounds like an unrealistic make a wish? Yes and no. Forward-looking companies have an interest in improving conditions and retaining older employees. The aging and shrinking population means that more and more skilled and other workers are lacking. The companies would now have to urge their HR staff to produce less anglicism swirls à la “agile working”, “onboarding” and “lessons learned” and to take serious care of the people. Employees 50 plus often feel like tolerated people in their company, whose residence permits are shaky. All attention or training energy goes to younger people.
There is also other way of doing this than youth madness, as corporations show in model projects. At Deutsche Bahn, employees learned to recognize what they can do in old age – and what can be practiced in order to keep the job for a long time. With train drivers, for example, it’s about sharpening your concentration. After such training, many employees who wanted to leave early wanted to stay until retirement age or even longer.
Anyone who makes an effort to recruit employees taps the potential that is there. People are not only getting older, they stay healthy on average for many years longer – which is why many could work longer than before if the conditions are right.
In their traffic light paper, the SPD, FDP and the Greens want to expand the professional activity of older people as well as that of women, who are often slowed down by a lack of care and financial incentives such as splitting spouses. Both approaches are good at stabilizing the pension fund of an aging and shrinking population. But they are not enough. A major reform is needed – and the possible coalition has been avoiding it so far.
The challenge is clear. On the one hand, there is a need for an improved basic pension and real support for old-age provision for those who are threatened with poverty in old age. On the other hand, the new government has to close the financial hole that is tearing demographics: While there were six employees for every senior in the post-war years, soon only two are available to earn his retirement benefits. The traffic light probes promise to keep the pension level. But how? They keep it quiet.
Only a reform that demands something from all groups would be fair: working people and companies higher social contributions and taxes, civil servants cutbacks and pensioners lower increases in pensions. Unfortunately, the high number of civil servants in the Bundestag and the high proportion of older voters cause fear that a traffic light government will refuse elements two and three. However, that would be profoundly unfair to all employees.