Older workers look to shift careers and stay in employment longer
Research has revealed that more than half of today's older employees do not want to give up work entirely.
The HSBC survey of 2,000 workers aged over 50 found that 55% revealed they would not prefer to stop working, with the majority emphasising the need to earn extra cash during their retirement.
This research is inspired by Government's decision to remove the default retirement age from 1 October 2011 and results shows that employees want to stay in work longer. It found that one-third of older workers had changed career in order to stay in work, with this number rising to 41% among 60- to 70-year-olds.
The largest reason for the change in careers was because of redundancy, but many also mentioned they wanted a new challenge.
David Wells, head of pensions, savings and investments at HSBC, stated that the requirement for people to work longer becomes more apparent and it seems that the over-50s are embracing the careers they have always wanted.
For many it might be the opportunity to fill a shortfall in retirement income, but many also are looking to gain new skills and embrace challenges what have become possible after careful financial planning during earlier working life.