Article
The Moscow News, 8 Ôĺâđŕë˙ 2010
Work ‘til you drop
Russians might want to work on after retirement age — but modern employers are unsure if they want staff who grew up in Soviet-era workplaces.
With meagre pensions forcing many older people to keep looking for work, it’s no great surprise that an opinion poll last week found most Russians believe it should be possible to work after reaching 60.
Elderly people themselves were the biggest fans of continuing to work, with 56 per cent of them agreeing that people should have the right to work beyond retirement age, according to a survey by pollsters VTsIOM. Overall 49 per cent said women over 55 and men over 60 should be able to keep their jobs.
However, there was a word of warning from recruitment agency ANCOR. Alexander Semyonov,Team Leader, Professional Search & Selection «Finance», told The Moscow News: «Most people who are now in their 50s lived under a different system, at a time when companies and enterprises had goals and tasks that were different from today. They worked under different standards.»
He added that this could cause problems for some, who struggled to meet employers’ current needs — but said there were still many individual success stories of people who had made successful careers in Western companies despite joining them after years in old-school Russian firms.
Social attitudes towards working pensioners were broadly supportive. With a state pension in Moscow and the surrounding region worth an average of 7,816 roubles per month ($255), 23 per cent of those surveyed felt only compassion for aged employees.
Only 9 per cent feared that their babushka might be keeping them out of a job of their own — and 7 per cent even thought that granny and granddad should be forced to go and earn their keep.
A large minority had no fears about the competence of older colleagues: 39 per cent agreed that age didn’t affect someone’s ability, a view broadly endorsed by recruiters.
While low pensions were the main reason for 81 per cent of respondents wanting the chance to keep going to work, 36 per cent also talked about wanting to help out their children financially. Other reasons included habit, enjoyment and the fear of loneliness if they give up their jobs.
But staying in the office doesn’t always bring cash rewards — many extra payments are taken away from working pensioners, sometimes halving their welfare income. As of Jan. 1 this year a new list of jobs which allow pensioners to collect full payments was introduced.
Most of the work is in low-skilled jobs such as janitors, couriers and cleaners, which the authorities say are in great demand.