As people live longer, mature age is being redefined. The number of older Australians remaining in the workforce has been steadily rising for decades, but new research suggests it may have reached a plateau.
According to new research by KPMG, the expected retirement age over the past two decades has increased by three years from 63.3 to 66.2 years for men, and from 61.6 to 64.8 years for women. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian labour force grew by 185,000 workers, with those aged 55 and older representing almost 70% of that growth.
Between 2019 to 2021, women have been increasingly drawn into full-time employment, with the expected age of retirement from full-time work increasing by more than a year. Meanwhile, the increased expected retirement age for men during that period was driven by increases in part-time employment.
KPMG found that the increase is due to a long-term shift away from physically demanding jobs, stronger labour market conditions and, in recent years, more people working from home.
People staying employed for longer is good for business. They’re continuing to pay tax and businesses have more access to skilled workers for longer, but can we expect to continue extending our working lives and will there be enough older workers to sustain the growth we saw during the pandemic era?
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