Sometimes it feels as if we are told to work longer for jobs that do not exist, for pensions we should not expect, to eventually enjoy an old age that might not be so enjoyable – because we are burned out.
That may sound like the pessimist’s view, but it reflects a sentiment many share. Last week, in my old home country Finland, I tuned into a radio debate about potentially extending the retirement age to 70. Similar conversations echo across Europe. Yet the framing remains narrow: as life expectancy rises, public pension costs increase, so statutory retirement ages must follow.
I disagree. Raising pension ages may be part of a sustainable public-finance package, but it will fail unless we first fix how work is organised, how employers treat older employees, and how careers are managed over the life course.
The OECD’s 2025 Employment Outlook highlights large differences in employment rates for people aged 60+, showing there is untapped potential to keep people in productive work. But legal change alone does not close that gap. Policy nudges to “work longer” create winners and losers depending on job type, health, lifelong learning opportunities and, crucially, employer behaviour (OECD, 2025).
And let’s not forget ageism. An OECD report on longer working lives (2024) found that among workers 45+:
- ~18% said they were not hired because of age,
- ~11% said they were passed over for promotion,
- ~8% said they were denied training.
- The report concludes bluntly: “Age discrimination remains widespread across OECD countries” (OECD, 2024).
When hiring filters, promotion tracks and professional development prioritise younger cohorts, older workers’ opportunities shrink. Without retraining, or if career progression effectively stops at 50, later retirement ages risk widening inequality and insecurity.
Here are some things we should fix first, before arguing about the “correct” retirement age
What would real reform look like?
- Normalise phased retirement. Partial pensions and phased hours should be simple, not bureaucratic exceptions.
- Design jobs for longevity. Ergonomics, role rotation, hybrid options, and valuing mentoring work.
- Invest in lifelong learning for 50+. Targeted credits and incentives for retraining older workers.
- Confront ageism. Include age-diversity in procurement rules and require reporting on age in workforce data.
- Use incentives wisely. Adjust tax and social-security rules so part-time late-career work is encouraged, not penalised.
The real debate we need
As an independent worker who happen to love my work, I intend to keep contributing as long as I can, with the flexibility to shift how I work. But I also see how current pension and social-security systems often leave the self-employed and those with fragmented careers behind.
If Europe is serious about “working longer,” the conversation must move beyond pension-age headlines to the daily reality of work. That means making jobs sustainable, opening up learning through the 50s and 60s, and ending the tacit discrimination that pushes decades of experience out of the labour market. Only then will reforms be fiscally credible, socially acceptable, and humane.
