Eight in ten employees planning to work past retirement age (survey)

Over six in ten Romanian employees say they do not currently have a plan to supplement their income when they retire, such as a private pension or real estate assets they could rent out or sell, and that they rely strictly on the state pension they will collect, shows a survey conducted by online recruitment platform BestJobs.

Under these circumstances, two in ten employees say they will definitely continue to work past retirement age, even if just part-time, and another six in ten are considering this possibility, the survey found.

"Currently, 85 percent of respondents report having a net monthly salary below 5,000 lei, and about 30 percent of this category earn less than 3,000 lei, which doesn't allow them to make enough savings for retirement age. Another 10 percent earn between 5,000 and 10,000 lei per month, and the remaining 5 percent earn over 10,000 lei a month," the survey shows.

Most of the respondents (47 percent) consider that in order to be free of financial worries in their old age they should save up some 150,000 lei (30,000 euros) by the time of retirement. Another 33 percent say that the retirement savings that would make them financially secure range between 175,000 (35,000 euros) and 300,000 lei (60,000 euros), 15 percent see this amount at 500,000 lei (100,000 euros), and the remaining 5 percent - above this threshold.

More than half of the respondents would like to be able to save between 250 and 500 lei per month, 28 percent - between 500 and 750 lei, 13 percent - between 750 and 1,000 lei, and 5 percent - over 1,000 lei.

"In order to collect higher incomes that would allow them to save, most of the employees contemplate changing their job. Whereas in the last 12 months, during the pandemic, two thirds of the respondents remained in the same job, about four in ten respondents are now looking to change their job or even their career, and 22.5 percent say they have already taken steps in this direction," the survey also reveals.

The main criteria when looking for a new job or career are: a higher salary (67 percent), job security (39 percent), more stability (32 percent), the possibility to work from home (31.5 percent), more free time (29.5 percent). The survey was conducted between August 1 and 20 on a sample of 920 internet users from Romania.

BestJobs is one of the most important online recruitment platforms in Romania, with over 25,000 listed jobs and hosting over 4.6 million professionals and thousands of freelancers, recruiters, coaches, mentors, therapists, lawyers and other experts, Agerpres informs.