missing workers

[blythburgh]

A committe has declared that the missing workers from the workplace is in part due to people taking early retirement. It seems during the covid lockdown some realised they had savings and access to a pension pot they could start withdrawing from before they would officially reach retirement age.

I have long considered the opportunity to take money from your pension pot long before you would normally retire a mistake. The current inflation rate has shown dramatically that each year it will cost more to maintain the same standard of living. The state pension is small and the pension pot is what will fund the retirement many expect.

And the other major mistake IMHO is taking money out of your property. Each year the amount you borrowed has interest added to that sum. And the following year it will be intestest on your borrowed sum plus the interest. And that interest amount will grow year by year whatever the rate of your "mortgage". The amount owed can only grow year on year but your property value can go down as well as go up

[Richard Frost]

Everyone's situation is different. What suits some will not suit others.It has been a struggle at times, but I do not regret retiring at 55 funded by redundancy and taking Pension early. I am now 68.

Incidentally I have heard that some of those who took retirement during Covid are now back in the workplace part time, as they were finding it tight managing because of the economic situation.

[Richard Frost]

Fears over workforce exodus

The departure of more than half a million people from the British workforce since the Covid crisis is putting the economy at risk of weaker growth and persistently higher inflation, according to a House of Lords economic affairs committee. The peers said the significant rise in economic inactivity – when working-age adults are neither in employment nor looking for a job – since the pandemic was posing “serious challenges” to the economy. The UK is the only country in the developed world with employment still expected to be below its pre-pandemic level at the start of 2023.

The Week 20/12/22

[Chadwick]

I think a significant number of people have decided to enjoy it while they can and have taken early retirement, or reduced their hours. The pandemic has given many an opportunity to evaluate their lifestyles. It's not often we get a pause like that when everything stops.

Not just people. Many businesses have also changed their working conditions, notably the rise in WFH. And of course delivery services moved into the gap left by closed high street shops and I doubt we will ever fully reverse that.