As Pension Ages Rise, What Does This Mean For Your Career?

Pensions have been at the top of the news cycle recently. In January, French president Emanuel Macron announced a plan to raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64. The move has sparked outrage, leading to mass protests, hundreds of arrests, and piles of rubbish littering streets as refuse workers walked out over the planned reforms.

Macron is not backing down, yet even if the reforms go through, France’s planned retirement age will still be a lot lower than other European countries. Germany, Greece, Denmark and Italy both have a retirement age of 67, with Spain’s coming in at 65.

In the UK, the age you can qualify for the state pension is 66. From May 2026, that age will start increasing again, reaching 67 by March 2028, and will affect anyone born between 6th April 1960 and 5th April 1977.

There is also a plan to raise the age to 68 between 2044 and 2046, but in 2017 a government review suggested bringing that forward to the late 2030s instead.

A final decision has yet to be made, and has now been postponed until after the next general election. Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride confirmed last month that now was not the time to make the change.

​Under current rules, if you are aged between 45 and 62, you’re looking at a retirement age of 67, but the picture is worse for those in the Millennial and Generation Z cohorts, who may find themselves in the workforce into their seventies.

The driver of rising retirement ages is the fact that the model found in most developed countries where you’d start your working life between the ages of 18 to 21, and retire at around 60 to 65, is no longer viable. Governments are squeezed between the pension obligations of ageing populations, along with stretched public finances.

60-year career

As a result, we’re seeing the rise of what is being called the 60-year career. As people live longer, healthier lives––and those retirement ages tick upwards––the traditional 40-year career is starting to become a thing of the past.

Another driver enabling a longer working life is the pandemic-led shift in the way that we work. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), between September 2022 and January 2023, 16% of the workforce was working solely from home. Another 28% were hybrid workers, dividing their time between home and office.

The success of a recent four-day working week pilot in the UK also points to a new way to approach work. Ninety two percent of participating organisations will continue with a four-day week, and 90% of employees said they definitely want to keep on working four days a week, with no one saying they definitely don’t want to continue.

The rise of diversity and inclusion initiatives is yet another positive indicator for those who do want to remain in the workforce for longer. Companies now understand the benefits of diverse teams, because they make better business decisions up to 87%  of the time, with those decisions delivering 60% better results.

New career challenges

If you are in a position where you’re looking at a longer working life, then change and variety will be important to keep you engaged. Discover stretch roles and new career challenges on the City AM Job Board, with three interesting roles highlighted below.

Wasserman is a connections agency, driving culture across sports, entertainment and music. The company is seeking a Finance Manager in London to prepare and manage the annual local statutory account submission for the UK and specific European entities, and co-ordinate the UK audit.

Heineken, the UK’s leading pub, cider and beer business, is looking for an Off Trade Finance Controller in London, where you’ll play a critical role in protecting the business, with responsibility for ensuring robust governance and financial controls are in place.

Citi is also hiring: the Finance – SVP – Valuation Methodology Policy role will involve maintaining and enhancing the firm’s pricing and price verification policy, and standards and procedures that support the valuation control environment.

For more career-defining roles across London, visit the City AM Job Board today