Most Companies Not Offering Semi-Retirement Despite Ongoing Labour Shortages

Retiring Employees Expected to Make Up a Quarter of Office Exits


TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian companies dealing with ongoing labour shortages are overlooking a significant source of labour – retired workers, according to a survey from The Harris Poll commissioned by Express Employment Professionals.

Only one quarter (25%) of Canadian companies offer semi-retirement, despite the growing number of employees retiring. Indeed, nearly one in four companies (23%) say retirements are one of the main reasons they expect increased employee turnover in 2023.

Of companies that offer semi-retirement, about one-third (33%) report an increase in the number of employees choosing semi-retirement over the past two years.

While keeping or bringing back retired workers might be seen as a temporary solution to labour shortages given age-related issues, more than half of the employees (53%) that have retired in the past two years have been under the age of 65, with more than a quarter (27%) retiring under the age of 60.

Semi-retirement is a win-win for both the company and the retired employee according to Niven Lee, an Express franchise owner in Delta, British Columbia.

“Offering semi-retirement can reduce the shortage of workers, but the main benefit to employers is the continued transfer of institutional knowledge and company culture,” said Lee. “For retired workers, it gives them a sense of purpose, allows them to keep up to date in their field, and gives them flexibility to enjoy their older years.”

KV Aulakh, and Express franchise owner in Barrie, Ontario, agrees that there are significant benefits to offering semi-retirement.

“One of the biggest drawbacks of retirement is the lack of routine that people feel initially, but semi-retirement allows older employees to slowly adjust to retirement by offering a routine with less hours, less stress, and more time away from work,” said Aulakh. “Semi-retirement also allows companies to hire someone who is more likely to show up to work. The benefits to bringing a retired employee back on a flexible basis are huge as that worker already has the required skills and familiarity with the processes, so they can continue to train the new workforce using the years of experience they have.”

Lee says that the number of employees retiring has increased in the past few years.

“Due to the aging and retiring of baby boomers, we have seen an increase in the proportion of employees retiring,” said Lee. “In addition, during the pandemic, we saw a growing number of older employees taking early retirement.”

However, both Lee and Aulakh say that inflationary pressures have caused many older workers to either delay retirement or to come out of retirement. As a result, there is a growing source of labour that can help companies struggling to find qualified workers.

“The increased cost of living is making it difficult for people to live only on their pensions and, as a result, we definitely see an older age group continue to stay in workforce in our local market,” said Aulakh.

“As baby boomers continue to age and consider retirement, the labour shortage is only going to get worse,” said Bill Stoller, Express Employment International CEO. “Semi-retirement is one solution to allow experienced workers time to train their successors, ensuring a seamless knowledge transfer and business continuity.”

Survey Methodology
The Job Insights survey was conducted online within Canada by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15, 2022, among 506 Canadian hiring decision-makers (defined as adults ages 18+ in Canada who are employed full-time or self-employed, work at companies with more than one employee, and have full/significant involvement in hiring decisions at their company). Data were weighted where necessary by company size to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 4.6 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest. 

The omnibus survey was conducted online within Canada by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals from Dec. 13-15, 2022, among 1,050 adults ages 18 and older. Data are weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, household income and propensity to be online, to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 3.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.

If you would like to arrange for an interview to discuss this topic, please contact Ana Curic at (613) 858-2622 or email Ana@MapleLeafStrategies.com.

About Bill Stoller
William H. "Bill" Stoller is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment International. Founded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the international staffing franchisor supports the Express Employment Professionals franchise and related brands. The Express franchise brand is an industry-leading, international staffing company with franchise locations in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

About Express Employment Professionals
At Express Employment Professionals, we’re in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Our international network of franchises offers localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, employing 586,000 people globally in 2021 and 10 million since its inception. For more information, visit ExpressPros.com/CA.

A graphic accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/982cea76-6c8f-48b1-8541-3818acf43b41