More than one-third of all employers - and nearly half of those with 25,000 or more workers - agree that the aging work force will have a significant impact on their company, yet more than three-quarters have taken no steps to accommodate older workers, according to a MetLife Inc. employee benefits study released Tuesday.
This comes at a time when one-third of baby boomers (41- to 60-year-olds) have not decided when they will retire. Furthermore, about 58% of boomers 41 to 50 years old worry that they will have to work either full- or part-time in retirement in order to live comfortably, and 61% say that "outliving retirement money" is their No. 1 retirement-related fear. Fueling this concern is the fact that 27% of these younger boomers admit to being "significantly behind" in their savings, and one in 10 has not even begun saving.
The MetLife study found that older workers are generally more satisfied with their jobs and more loyal to employers than the work force as a whole; 67% of preretirees, those 61 to 69 years old, reported high levels of job satisfaction, and 75% indicated they were very loyal to their employers, compared with 44% and 46%, respectively, of all employees.
They are also more likely than their colleagues to report that benefits are an important reason they remain with an employer.
In addition to protection products such as disability insurance and long-term-care insurance, older employees are increasingly turning to the workplace for financial planning advice and protection products. More than half of preretirees are interested in having access to financial planners through the workplace to help them make decisions about 401(k) money.
In order to help meet employees' need for guaranteed retirement income, about 46% of the largest companies - and 31% of companies with 500 or more employees - offer annuities as an employee benefit. Among all employers, 19% offer annuities, up from 16% a year earlier.
