Employees in the public sector retire on average one year and four months earlier from their job than employees in the private sector, analysis from Denmark’s Forsikring & Pension (F&P) has revealed.

F&P noted that, in a situation where the lack of skilled employees puts a lot of pressure on welfare, there is a “great potential” if the public sector becomes better at retaining employees in jobs.

With a record number of Danes in jobs and a low unemployment rate, the lack of skilled workers has affected both private and public workplaces across the country, according to F&P.

F&P added that, to a very high degree, this also applies to the elderly and health area, where there is a prospect of more and more dependent elderly people.

F&P CEO, Kent Damsgaard, commented: "It is so important that we have a strong and flexible pension system that allows us to both stay in jobs for a long time and retire earlier.

“After all, the employed have different needs and opportunities. But it is worrying enough that for such a large group of employees in the public sector, we can see that they are withdrawing systematically earlier than the rest of the labour market.

“It clearly shows that there is a huge potential if you become better at retaining, for example, experienced nurses and social and health workers longer in the job.”

Damsgaard pointed out that if the average retirment age for people in the public sector increased to the average retirement age in the private sector, employment would increase by 16,000 people.

“It is absolutely crazy that on the one hand we are facing a massive challenge in the form of a shortage of, for example, social and health assistants and nursing graduates. And on the other hand, we clearly do not manage to retain the experienced employees in jobs in these areas”, he continued.

F&P’s analysis showed that in recent years there has been a “clear” development of private employees resigning later and later from their job, but developments have not kept up in the public sector.

Damsgaard added: “It is a marked difference between the development in the retirement age when we compare the private and public sectors.

“In the coming years, when we need to find sustainable solutions to ensure welfare, there is really good reason for both our politicians and public leaders to focus on how the experienced public employees can be retained in jobs.”

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