The entitled age for retirement from work has been increased in numerous nations. From my perspective, although this trend can bring about certain benefits, they are overshadowed by its more significant drawbacks.
The rise in retirement age can exert some positive effects on society. Firstly, a higher retirement age can create a more skilled and experienced labor workforce. Older workers tend to have wider expertise than their younger counterparts, so increasing retirement age would enable businesses to benefit from the knowledge and skills of senior workers for a longer period of time. Secondly, when retirement age is extended, youngsters will be under less pressure related to healthcare and finance as they are not the primary workforce. As a result, it will reduce the budgetary burden of social welfare and funding on the government.
However, those aforementioned merits are overweighted by the more important down sides. First and foremost, raised retirement age can lead to poor employee performance. Older workers have to continue working while their overall health is deteriorating, resulting in a wide range of age-related diseases.
In the long run, this will in turn negatively impact the productivity in companies. Additionally, another demerit is that this phenomenon may restrict the job opportunities for young individuals. If senior workers remain at work for a prolonged time, enterprises might not necessarily recruit new staff. Hence, there are fewer positions for young adults to apply for, leading to higher rate of youth unemployment.
In conclusion, although an increase in retirement age can have several advantages including well-experienced staff and less pressure on healthcare and financial responsibilities, I assert that they are eclipsed by considerable negative impacts due to lower working performance and limited career prospects for young individuals.