NAPF 2015: Align pensions and recruitment to manage ageing workforce

United Utilities head of pensions Steven Robson said the removal of default retirement ages means employers no longer have certainty on when people will retire which can affect recruitment and training plans.

"Pensions used to sit to the side but now we are very much involved in this. Every year we look at who we need to employ and where gaps may exist. What happens if you take on a number of apprentices train them up and then in five years' time the people that you thought would retire haven't. Getting this balance right is really important," he said.

Robson also highlighted the issue of managing people who continue to work on when their health might be failing them.

"What do you do in that situation? No-one wants to be put in the position of having to manage someone out of the business," he said. "We need to help people to retire on a decent income."

Research shows the issue of healthy life expectancy will prove problematic. There are huge regional differences with 100% of local authorities in the north east having a healthy life expectancy of less than 65 years. This was also the case for 93% of councils in the Yorkshire and Humber region and 87% of councils in the North West. On average 73% of local authorities in England have healthy life expectancy of less than 65 years.

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• Topics
• Industry
• NAPF2015
• United Utilities Pension Scheme