Views on antecedents and outcomes of post-retirement work in a German aerospace company

Continued or re-employment of experts in retirement is one option to manage the predicted skills shortage due demographic change. At the same time it can provide a source of well-being for individuals. Research has shown that post-retirement work is related to retirees’ retirement satisfaction and life satisfaction (Kim & Feldman, 2000). The purpose of this explorative qualitative interview study was to identify barriers and facilitating factors as well as benefits and downsides of post-retirement work by examining the prospective views of German engineers. To this end, 22 employees of an aerospace company (14 engineers aged 51 to 65 years as well as eight experts from the same organization, i. e., managers, HR specialists and senior managers as well as members of the works council) participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were taped, transcribed and analyzed through content analysis. Inter-coder reliabilities ranged from α = 0.73 to α = 1.00. Categories for barriers and facilitating factors for the engagement in post-retirement work were generated on individual, organizational and family levels. Expected benefits included amongst others mental and physical fitness as well as social integration whereas downsides contained for example the restriction of recreational activities and conflicts in the work place. This study extends the knowledge on determinants of post-retirement work. Recommendations for work place design can be derived.