The typical Briton entering the workforce today can expect to have nine jobs including one major career change across 48 years of working.
The research from LV= marks a sharp shift from past generations, with today’s younger workers set to have twice as many jobs as their grandparents, with the ‘job for life’ virtually extinct.
Today’s new workers also faces a significantly longer working life, retiring seven years later than their grandparents did (66 vs. 59) with nearly a quarter (23%) working well into their 70s. More than half (55%) can also expect to be made redundant at least once across their 48 working years (18-66).
Recent real wage falls also means that the new worker can expect a lower full-time starting salary (in real terms) than their parents started on (£14K vs. £17k), and despite the working-from-home rate doubling over the last 30 years, we’re less happy with our work-life balance today than our grandparents were (68% vs. 72%).
While this paints a gloomy picture for young people entering the workforce today, they face a healthier job market overall, with unemployment levels at a record low. They also enjoy shorter commutes than their parents and a far greater annual leave entitlement8.
Many people decide to move jobs due to a desire to increase their salary or advance their career. However, LV= has highlighted that shorter stints at numerous jobs could result in millions being lost in pension savings, as we lose track of savings spread across a number of workplace schemes. In addition to this, having numerous pension pots can also lead to confusion over fund sizes, with 40% of those with one or more pensions products unsure of the total value of their pension reserves.
LV= also notes that spending shorter periods in each job could also prompt workers to opt out of auto-enrolment if they consider the role to be a stop-gap rather than a significant career move.
Richard Rowney, LV= Life and Pensions Managing Director, said: “The job for life is clearly a thing of the past, as more of us now move roles and even switch careers. The disappearance of generous workplace pensions that were ‘golden handcuffs’ for generations of workers is likely to be a key factor. This change means that responsibility for planning for retirement now lies more with the individual.”
“Your retirement savings provide you with a wage in retirement so it is important that people keep a close eye on them. However, with people working in more and more roles savings pots can easily be forgotten. For many it would make sense for them to consolidate these pots into one to make their fund easier to monitor. To help savers keep track and better understand their pension savings, we continue to call on the Government to back our idea of a ‘pensions passport’. We believe that this would encourage more savers to plan for their retirement, consider all the income options now available to them and, where appropriate, seek financial advice.”
|
