Employers struggle to anticipate when workers will retire

Only half of employers said they have a good understanding of when employees will retire, despite 83% of them saying a significant number of employees are nearing or are at retirement, according to a Willis Towers Watson (WTW) study of 2.9 million employees. The 2018 Longer Working Careers Survey revealed that 54% of employers said they believe the loss of talent caused by retirement will pose the most significant labor market risk in the next five years. Half said they think they will encounter difficulty finding workers to replace those who retired, and 48% voiced concerns about the loss of organization-specific knowledge. Almost half of respondents said they are concerned that benefit costs will rise as employees delay their retirements, and 41% said they worry that this delay will also heighten wage and salary costs. Postponing retirement could mean trouble for younger employees, too; 37% of employers said that they have concerns that the delays could prohibit employees with less seniority from advancing.