Opportunities to learn encourage employees to delay retirement

With many countries facing the challenges of ageing populations, employers are faced with a significant gap in the workforce as more employees prepare for retirement. Many are now exploring ways to retain retirement-age employees to avoid labour shortages and keep valuable experience and knowledge within the organisation.

A study has found that engaging retirement-eligible employees in training programmes can be an effective way to retain them. Specifically, older employees who are motivated to grow and develop at work and who work for an organisation that encourages learning and development of its older employees are more likely to stay in their roles.

Li Yixuan, Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business, explained that organisations must move beyond creating pleasant social experiences to retain retirement-eligible employees and need to facilitate recharging or investing in these employees to motivate them to stay.

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Besides offering training opportunities to retain retirement-age employees, Li and her co-authors also suggested organisations create an environment that prioritises and encourage learning among its older employees. Employers can do this through their HR systems, delivering consistent messaging on the importance of training and development. Additionally, implementing age-inclusive management and fair treatment across all age groups can assist in retirement-age employees’ decision to remain working.