In fact, people over 55 represent only 8% of new hires, while they represent 23% of all active people, according to the latest Swiss Life study.
The latest Swiss Life study shows that, for a majority of Swiss employers, it is possible to continue working after retirement, but few actively encourage this possibility. In addition, employers are mostly of the opinion that employees are rather reluctant to continue working after retirement.
- In Switzerland, labor market participation of people aged 55 to 64 is high in international comparison and has continued to increase in recent years. However, it stagnates from the age of 65 and is average.
- Certainly, most of the companies surveyed affirm that employees have the possibility of continuing a lucrative activity in retirement. However, only 14% actively encourage it.
- Nearly one in two employers consider that the ideal retirement age for men is below 65. Only one employer in seven believes that retirement should be beyond this age.
- Three quarters of employers can imagine hiring people aged 55 and over. In fact, people over 55 represent only 8% of new hires, while they represent 23% of all active people.
- 70% of employers believe that employees are reluctant to work beyond the reference age.
- Around half of companies consider it difficult to find qualified staff.
- 22% of them explicitly cite the hiring of older employees as a measure to cover the need for qualified labor. Only 13% encourage working beyond retirement age for this purpose.
- People aged 55 to 70 currently represent around a fifth of the available labor force potential.
In international comparison, people aged 55 to 64 are well integrated into the labor market in Switzerland, if we base ourselves on the rate of employed workers. However, people who lose their jobs at this age often experience difficulty finding work again. Furthermore, in international comparison, the labor market participation of people over 65 is only average in Switzerland and has stagnated in recent years. “In this context, we questioned more than 1,000 people with personnel decision-making powers, including HR specialists, board members and other executives, about the personnel policy of their company for people aged 55 and over,” says Andreas Christen, head of pension research at Swiss Life Switzerland.
Continuing to work at retirement age is often possible, but rarely encouraged
Few companies encourage early retirement or explicitly consider it desirable. Certainly, most of the employers interviewed declare that the continuation of professional activity of retired employees is possible. However, almost half respond passively that it is “possible”, without such a measure being encouraged. Only 14% of employers actively encourage gainful activity in retirement. For 16% of them, no incentive measure is taken, but it is explicitly desired. When asked what the ideal retirement age for men is from a business perspective, 46% of them indicate an age below 65. Only 15% of employers surveyed place the ideal retirement age at 66 and over. When it comes to women, 58% of employers believe that the ideal retirement age is below 65 years.
Most employers can imagine hiring people over 55
40% of employers indicate that in principle they would personally be willing to hire people aged 55 and over, while 38% may “somewhat” consider it. On the other hand, the willingness to hire people aged 65 and over is significantly lower: only 16% of employers are clearly willing to do so and 28% may instead consider it. Although most employers say they are ready to hire people aged 55 and over, they actually represent only 8% of new hires, while this age group constitutes 23% of all working people. However, this low value can also be explained by a low willingness of older employees to change jobs and is not solely attributable to employers. Overall, employers surveyed rate candidates aged 55 and over as more experienced, more technically competent and more reliable than those aged 25 to 40. On the other hand, older candidates are considered more expensive, less familiar with IT tools and less flexible.
Many employers think that employees tend not to want to work beyond the age of 65
“Many employers are skeptical about the ability or willingness of older working people to continue working after retirement,” explains Nadia Myohl, pension researcher at Swiss Life Switzerland. Thus, only 29% of them completely agree with the statement that most active people would be able to work until age 66 or 67; on the other hand, only 23% strongly disagree. 70% of employers believe that employees are reluctant to work beyond the reference age. Overall, only 19% of them think that the willingness and ability of employees to continue a professional activity after the age of 65 is high. The more the employers surveyed are of the opinion that employees are able to work after 65, the more they tend to encourage this approach and the more they are willing to hire older employees.
Despite the shortage of qualified labor, work beyond the age of 65 is rarely encouraged
Around half of the employers surveyed consider it difficult to find qualified staff. In a context marked by demographic aging and the wave of retirements of the baby boom generation, Swiss Life carried out a study to determine whether companies affected by the shortage of qualified labor were pursuing a policy of staff more active than other companies with regard to people aged 55 and over. “In fact, companies that encounter recruitment difficulties encourage early retirements a little less often. However, these same companies do not encourage the continuation of professional activity beyond retirement age more often than those which are not or only slightly affected by the shortage of qualified labor,” explains Nadia Myohl. When asked about the measures implemented to cover the needs for qualified personnel, 22% of the employers surveyed explicitly mentioned “hiring employees aged 55 and over”. It is interesting to note that to this end, only 13% encourage working beyond retirement age. Swiss Life’s analyzes show that there is considerable potential here: already today, people aged 55 to 70 represent just over a fifth of the workforce potential available throughout Switzerland.
Employees and employers: a reciprocal perception
How to interpret these results? The question also arises in the context of the Swiss Life study published in June 2024, which looked at the position of older employees with regard to gainful activity in retirement. Compared to autumn 2020, both older working people and employers seem a little more favorable to gainful activity beyond the age of 65. However, working people are often only willing to continue working under certain conditions, for example with more flexible working hours. Ideally, a majority would like to retire before age 65. Of course, in most companies it is now possible to continue working after retirement, but this approach is rarely actively encouraged. This undoubtedly explains the mutual perception of the two stakeholders on the labor market: according to the Swiss Life study, employees rarely feel a clear interest from their employers in continuing their activity after 65 years, but the latter just as rarely feel such interest from their staff. “It is conceivable that in the future, a worsening of the shortage of qualified labor due to demographics will boost the labor market for those aged 55 and over, and in particular for those aged 65 and over, and that the corresponding labor force potential is further exploited,” concludes Andreas Christen.
