EMPLOYEES ’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THEIR DECISIONS TO RETIRE

The ageing workforce has created a number of issues, one of which is the increased interest in, and importance of, the retirement of older workers. Governments are encouraging older workers to continue working later in life, and to delay their retirement to offset the dependence on the support of (the fewer) younger workers. The findings from the quantitative analysis suggest that age has a significant moderating impact on the way employees perceive four traditional retirement factors (intrinsic, health, financial and organisational policies and practices). Similarly, the findings from the quantitative analysis suggest that employees ’ perceptions of autonomy in relation to when they retire are significantly affected by those four traditional retirement factors, with the factors of ‘financial ’ and ‘organisational policies and practices ’ being the two significant factors