WSJ article 3/15/22 Part-Time Retirement Programs Are on the Rise

[Luvtoride]

Part-Time Retirement Programs Are on the Rise
Workers have longed for a way to ease into retirement while keeping some pay and benefits. More companies are giving it a try.

I know the links to WSJ articles aren't viewable unless you have a subscription, so I won't even try.
The article discusses the significant increase in companies adopting part time work schedules for workers nearing retirement age in order to stem the flow of knowledge and bridge the difficulty of hiring replacements. This has been a win-win for both employers and employees looking to ease into retirement.

Although some companies are adopting these formally, many are still doing it informally on an ad-hoc basis for employees with skill sets that might be difficult to replace. Many of these are done to help with the hiring and training of new employees to take on some of the responsibilities of the retiring employee.
There are some complications regarding accessing of Pensions and 401ks for employees needing the additional income while still working for the company. These issues can be overcome by changing 401k withdrawl rules.
One other risk is lawsuits by offering these plans to some employees but not all employees.

This sounds like something that would work well for me...the only question, is who brings up the idea first, the employee or the company?

Has anyone here participated in such a program? How did it work for you?

 

[JRon]

I have done this, but not part of a program. I cut back my hours going from full-time to half-time to a few hours a week and now to a few hours a month. I initiated it and would have fully retired if they wouldn’t have agreed. They want my knowledge and I really like the company and the owners of the company.

This has worked well for me, but only because of the great relationship I have with them. On the other hand I hear about a lot of the problems they have which does give me some stress.