Companies should encourage staff to retire when they are 55 years old in order to give more opportunities to young people. Do you agree or disagree?

Finding sufficient employment opportunities for young people is an issue in almost all countries. It has been suggested that one way of dealing with it should be by encouraging older staff to retire, making way for younger people. I shall look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of this. The obvious advantage is that such a system would allow more young people to start work rather than be unemployed. They would be able to develop skills and abilities and hopefully develop a sense of responsibility and greater self-esteem through work. If companies combined this with an effective system for knowledge transfer from the older workers to the younger ones, it would be especially beneficial. However, there are problems with this idea, too. Although it would only “encourage” older workers to retire earlier, the message being sent to workers over 55 could be construed as being that they are not needed or wanted any longer. It could also lead to better, older workers giving up their jobs to younger, less able people, which might not be desirable for the company or for the economy as a whole. IELTSMatters. com IELTSMatters. comIELTSMatters. com A further issue, particularly for European countries, is that retired workers would probably expect to receive social welfare payments from the age of 55, whereas these are currently paid when they are 60 or 65. It would also come at time when governments are considering raising the retirement age, not lowering it, on the grounds of the excessive cost. To conclude, I think that the current system used in Britain, whereby workers can retire early if they want to, is best. This allows flexibility for individuals and employers. I believe that there are other ways in which the government can get young people into work.