When should people be made to retire? 55? 65? Should there be a compulsory
age limit?
Many old people work well into their 70s and 80s, running families, countries
or corporations. Other people, however, despite being fit and highly talented,
are forced to retire in their or even earlier because of company or national
regulations. This essay will examine whether people should be allowed to
continue working for as long as they want or whether they should be encouraged
to retire at a particular stage.
There are several arguments for allowing older people to continue working as
long as they are able. First of all, older employees have an immense amount of
knowledge and experience which can be lost to a business or organization if they
are made to retire. A second point is that older employees are often extremely
loyal employees and are more willing to implement company policies than younger
less committed staff. However, a more important point is regarding the attitudes
in society to old people. To force someone to resign or retire at 60 or 65
indicates that the society does not value the input of these people and that
effectively their useful life is over.
Allowing older people to work indefinitely however is not always a good
policy. Age alone is no guarantee of ability. Many younger employees have more
experience or skills than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area or
unit for most of their working lives. Having compulsory retirement allows new
ideas in an organization. In addition, without age limits, however arbitrary,
many people would continue to work purely because they did not have any other
plans or roles. A third point of view is that older people should be rewarded by
society for their life
