‘The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) is calling on the government to scrap its plans to push the national retirement age up by three years over four decades. Instead the EFA wants the government to take a leaf out of many employers' books by leaving retirement up to employees.’

This comes after HSBC's Future of Retirement study, conducted by the Oxford Institute of Ageing (OIA), found that 37% of UK workers surveyed wanted the retirement age increased. (You can download the full report here)

A separate survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that of the 1,000 workers surveyed aged between the ages of 50 and 64, 38% plan to carry on working beyond 65 with a further 31% saying they would continue if their employer allowed them to work flexibly.

With fewer than 40% of employees contributing to occupational pension schemes this makes sense. Surely if somebody is happy to continue working into their seventies we should let them. Retaining skilled staff benefits employers in terms of increasing employee motivation and reducing recruitment costs.

Currently 11% of people in Britain work past State Pension age with financial considerations being the main drivers behind the decision.

What is your company’s stand on this issue? As always we’re interested to receive your comments.