Mass exodus

For a start, we need to change our concept of 'retirement', and we need to change mindsets arising from
earlier government policy which, in the face of high unemployment levels, encouraged mature workers
to take early retirement. Today, government encourages them to delay their retirement.
We now need to think of retirement as a phased process, where mature age workers gradually reduce
their hours, and where they have considerable flexibility in how they combine their work and non work
time.
We also need to recognize the broader change that is occurring in how people work, learn, and live.
Increasingly we are moving away from a linear relationship between education, training, work, and
retirement, as people move in and out of jobs, careers, caregiving, study, and leisure. Employers of choice
remove the barriers between the different segments of people's lives, by creating flexible conditions of
work and a range of leave entitlements. They take an individualized approach to workforce planning and
development so that the needs of employers and employees can be met simultaneously.