Fifty-eight per cent of Danish people want to work after they reach their retirement age, a survey conducted by pension company PFA in collaboration with Wilke has found.

It is a marked increase from the results of the same question asked in 2024 (48 per cent), and an even greater difference from the 2023 result (42 per cent).

"In recent years, we've seen a quiet reform in the labour market where seniors just keep working longer and longer. This survey shows that the trend has really caught on with Danes, who are happy to postpone retirement when work offers itself," PFA senior manager and welfare, Jesper Brask Fischer, said.

PFA believes these points point to a “rapid cultural change” in views around retirement, with an increasing proportion of seniors choosing to slowly reduce their working lives and gradually retire.

Over the past 12 years, the average retirement age in Denmark has risen from around 63 years to almost 67 years.

"Whereas relatively few years ago, retirement typically came knocking at the door when you turned 60, more and more people are now looking towards 70. This is a major change in our work culture that is taking place. Extended working life has become much more popular, especially if it is spiced up with a flexible transition to retirement, where you end up with a four-day working week in your final years,” Brask Fischer said.

Furthermore, PFA calculations show that if half of all 67-70-year-olds continued to work four days a week after reaching retirement age, this would result in around 24,000 extra full-time employees in Denmark.

"The new labour market for seniors is, first and foremost, a gift for older employees, improving quality of life and boosting retirement savings. But it is certainly also a benefit for society as a whole. It is the high level of employment, to which seniors are the main contributors, that helps ensure the good economy we have in Denmark," Brask Fischer said.

The key to unlocking the great potential of the senior labour force is increased flexibility, according to the survey. Here, "more flexibility and shorter working hours" is the number one carrot to motivate people to stay longer in the labour market, PFA said.

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