BS: Scrapping UK retirement age

Subject: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Arnie
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 08:30 AM

The ConDem gov't have announced their intention to scrap the UK official retirement age of 65. The newspapers have been full of arguements for and against. Age Concern support the move, but many employers are unsure, as they fear industrial tribunals for trying to ease out over-65's who may simply no longer be up to the job. I've just read an interesting article written by a young job-seeker who now believes that she has no chance of ever getting on the employment ladder due to the 'bed blockers' staying on into their late '60's and '70's. Seems like the baby-boomer generation got it all, now including the right to keep earning until we feel like giving up. Despite the many over-60's supporting a longer working life, most of my contemporaries (late 50's) can't wait to get out of the job and start drawing a pension. The view of most of my workmates is that if you can survive financially on your pension, then the sooner you get it, the better. I suspect that you really would have to love your work, or be skint, to want to work beyond 65!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10796718

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Arnie
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 08:33 AM

Sorry, my attempt at a blue clicky hasn't worked despite my son's guidance! Can anyone oblige?

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: gnu
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 08:34 AM

Here ya go.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 09:15 AM

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
No, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
Well, I try my best
To be just like I am
But everybody wants you
To be just like them
They say sing while you slave and I just get bored
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: theleveller
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 10:43 AM

I'm pleased that they're scrapping the retirement age but disappointed that I'll have to take advantage of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 10:43 AM

When they were school leavers, the so called baby boomers, were much more employable, than a big slice of those looking for their first job today. Perhaps that's why some of them can't get work, nothing to do with older workers staying on.
Some of the job applications I received when I employed people, would make you weep. That was about 10 years ago, I'm not sure whether it's improved, I certainly hope it hasn't got worse.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: G-Force
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 10:57 AM

"Seems like the baby-boomer generation got it all ..."

Like overcrowded hospitals when they were born, overcrowded schools when they went to school, overcrowded universities when they went to university, overcrowded old peoples homes when they got old, overcrowded cemeteries when they're dead.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: theleveller
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 11:23 AM

"I've just read an interesting article written by a young job-seeker who now believes that she has no chance of ever getting on the employment ladder due to the 'bed blockers' staying on into their late '60's and '70's."

Well, the other side of the coin is that, at 61 one of the reasons I'm continuing to work and will be up to 67 is because I have 2 children to fund through university - without my support they would have no way of doing it.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 11:33 AM

I recently saw an applicant for a managerial post in a retail environment assert in her application: -

"Its always very important to me that I sussed in work and in my life".

I think she meant "It's", or in formal writing "It is", and "succeed".

The really alarming thing is that she got the job, but it wasn't my decision.

I think my bank manager will be less unhappy if I am able to work on past 65. Thatcher stole the state pensions.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Arnie
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 11:49 AM

Thanks for the blue clicky gnu. Seems like I can't keep up with today's technology and will have to consider early retirement.....

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 01:38 PM

I *wish* they would stop moving up the retirement age over here in the US. It's fine if a person wants to continue to work, but my Rog will have to work another three years to get full benefits and that is another three years of way too much stress, on call 24/7 365 days with no back-up. Without moving, there is nothing comparable, benefits and salary-wise, so he's stuck unless we figure something else out and we are both ready for him to be able to kick back and relax a bit more. So, be careful they don't make you wait until 70 or whatever before you have any hope of a pension.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 02:48 PM

People are living longer, healthier lives. Some are productive then. Some are not. 65 was an arbitrary age but the best compromise for the time. Now it is 67. c'est la vie.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: GUEST,Allan Con
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 04:14 PM

"So, be careful they don't make you wait until 70 or whatever before you have any hope of a pension."

It is well on the way to that here in the UK anyway and the 65 years old mentioned in the UK media is already redundant. Traditionally men received the state pension at 65 and women at 60. For younger people there is a sliding scale at the moment and everyone retiring after 2024 will work beyond their 65th birthday. I'm not too bad in that I get mine at age 66. However younger people still won't qualify for their state pension until 67 and eventually for everyone retiring after 2046 the state pension age is currently 68. That is an extra 8 years for women already. The jump of another 2 years may not be too far away.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 05:05 PM

When I started in the Civil Service in 1969, I had more than one colleague who only still had a job because our employers knew they could be safely pensioned off without fuss at 60!

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 05:29 PM

In my former job we went from doing 'real work' to endless (and pointless) 'brainstorming' sessions. These were supposed to make our department more 'innovative' (even though we'd dropped the 'research' bit from 'research and development' some years before - and I contend that innovation comes mainly from research).

Day after day we sat in meeting rooms and wrote silly 'ideas' down on flip charts. The flip chart sheets were then typed up and disappeared into filing cabinets - never to be seen again. At some point I expressed mild scepticism about this nonsense - and was told that I wasn't "keeping up with modern methods". Soon after that I was made redundant - at the age of 57. I suppose I could have kept my mouth shut and carried on playing 'silly buggers' until I was 65 - but then my brain might have melted and run out of my ears! I don't really think that employers want to keep people on past 60 - they tend to ask too many awkward questions for a start.

Five years later my ex-employer still hasn't come up with anything even vaguely innovative - and I'm poorer but happier!

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 05:46 PM

The real question is whether you can get a job at any age over about 55.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 06:10 PM

When I was made redundant, for the second time in 18 months, at the grand old age of 38. I was told by the Labour Exchange, that I was too old. So I went self employed, and remained so for most of the rest of my working life. Never regretted it either.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: romanyman
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 07:12 PM

try telling the newly qualified nurses that they will have to wait to be poorly paid and overworked while the nhs continues to employ more and more bleeding managers, on one ward where the other half had to work 16 hrs a day with 30 mins break all day , they had no less than 4 managers, and only 3 nurses good old nhs. she would love a job and has been trying since qualifiying only two of her cohort have found work, how can this be right, and its got piss all to do with scrapping the 65 limit on jobs, its just limiting jobs wholesale. the worst is yet to come i fear

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 03 Aug 10 - 12:16 AM

I think you may be right, politically, Ken.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Aug 10 - 01:09 AM

In Aus here, they have been muttering about that too..

I'm some what bemused about it all, really. In my 40s I was made redundant, nobody wanted over 40s to anything but sweep floors 'and you're overqualified for this position' - what, cause I can read and write words of more than one syllable and spell correctly? :-)

So having had years of bullying and resultant problems, as well as some 'aging problems' exacerbated by all that stress (including the stress of being unable to gain employment, in spite of being provedly 'over intelligent'), they couldn't shove me on the disability pension fast enough - and you get more than unemployment - you also get 'benefits' such as rates phones, etc reduction which you don't get on 'unemployment', which actually makes it just barely possible to survive....

So I'm basically wondering, if the 'retirement age' gets pushed higher, and my condition hasn't 'improved' - will they push out the age that they keep paying me as 'unfit to work' or are they really going to be brave enough to just shove me on the (lower) unemployed benefits.... and all the others like me....

As Shimrod noted, perhaps I should just keep my mouth shut and hope they don't start thinking about me.... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Arnie
Date: 03 Aug 10 - 05:36 AM

Like Dave McK above, I started working life in the Civil Service, although this was in the early '70's when the dreaded VAT was about to be introduced. My job was to interview Asian trader in Southall (West London, high Asian population). I was an Executive Officer 'cos I'd got some A levels, and had the services of Ben, a full-time Clerical Officer who was of Indian origin. As he spoke Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu I was allowed to take Ben along on trader visits as my interpreter. Without fail, the Asian traders would completely forget their grasp of English when I mentioned that I was from Customs & Excise making VAT enquiries, but I would then wheel in Ben as my secret weapon to complete the interview I always finished my visits in the morning and then typed up the reports in the afternoon. Ben, meanwhile, would sleep each and every afternoon at his desk and we didn't bother to wake him up as we had no other work for him to do. As Ben was in his upper-50's, retirement at 60 was not far off so there was no point in trying to get rid of him early. I left that office after a few months but I expect that Ben snoozed on until his 60'th birthday and retirement on an inflation-proofed CS pension. I wonder if the Civil Service is going to raise it's retirement age beyond the present 60yrs, which could lead to some interesting situations for the many Bens who I'm sure still lurk in most CS offices.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Seayaker
Date: 03 Aug 10 - 06:37 AM

Is early retirement obsolete?

Someone start a thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Scrapping UK retirement age
From: Green Man
Date: 03 Aug 10 - 08:50 AM

Picture this, over 65 out of a job but actively looking for one in I.T. (FAT CHANCE) anyway do you get a pension, or Job seekers allowance and all the other benefits that go with it ? OR do THEY force you to retire. Then you take them to a tribunal for ageism.... Hmmm this is a real can of worms.

I think I will go play the melodeon for a bit..

GM