Health, high work pressure play role in early retirement, study finds

Poor health is the most important reason why employees decide to take early retirement. However, according to a recent study, factors such as high work pressure and low job satisfaction also play a role.

Researchers said the findings, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, indicated that added support and changes in leadership style might help to delay retirement in highly skilled older workers.

For the study, researchers from Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands, reviewed eight studies on early retirement. They also included focus group interviews with older workers in the printing industry, which they said has a highly skilled but rapidly aging workforce. The printers agreed that poor health would make them consider retiring early. Other factors that could push them toward early retirement included heavy workload, shift work, and lack of support from coworkers and management.

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Incentives that would encourage them to postpone retirement included increased support from coworkers, appreciation from management -- something as simple as a pat on the back, and wellness programs.

Researchers said that especially in industries with highly qualified technical jobs, companies need information on what factors could affect whether an employee decides to retire early or stay on the job.

"Postponing early retirement could be facilitated by reducing workload, increasing social support from colleagues, appreciative and supportive leadership, and health promotion," the researchers wrote.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

August 23, 2010

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