The rise of 'unretirement': Here's what that means for business, government and pensioners

Jun 30, 2023

A new trend in the workforce is the rise of ‘unretirement’, whereby those already eligible to claim pensions are returning to work for a variety of reasons. Image: Unsplash/aaronburden

Ewan Thomson

Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Ageing and Longevity is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Ageing and Longevity

Listen to the article

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing about including older people in the workforce?

Rise of unretirement: Fewer people now believe they will retire before 65 as a result of high inflation and a faltering economy. Image: Randstad

Companies are looking to the over-50s to plug skills gaps, currently the biggest barrier to business transformation. Image: World Economic Forum

Infographic illustrating three tips for the workforce's retirement plans. unretirement

Working with the older workforce on retirement goals can help transition gradually, retaining valuable experience and skills in the workplace. Image: Randstad

Have you read?

As median ages rise, countries anticipate increased economic strains, but supporting ‘unretirement’ can help mitigate them. Image: Our World in Data

Infographic showing the respondent's opinions on retirement.

Most people would like to retire earlier than they think they will be able to, but 2% hope to never retire. Image: Randstad

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.