Psychosocial profiles of early retirees based on experiences during post-working life transition and adjustment to retirement

Abstract

Early retirement is a kind of occupational withdrawal that affects a heterogeneous group of workers. In order to identify types of retirees with similarities in their way of exiting from working life, satisfaction with post-working life and socio-demographic characteristics, we administered an adaption of the Retirement Satisfaction Inventory (Floyd et al., 1992) to a sample of 638 Spanish early retirees. Data using cluster analysis showed two major groups of retirees: workers who desired to accept the offer of early retirement and non-volunteers. Regarding the first group, the results show that pursuing personal interests during post-working life motivates their organizational exit. They reported less pressure from their employers during the exit process, and experienced high levels of freedom and control of their lives after leaving work. However, non-volunteer retirees stated that pressure from their employers was the reason for their early retirement. Within this group, two subgroups can be identified as a function of their educational level and professional status. The description of the experience of transition to retirement and satisfaction with post-working life is an approach aimed to understand a complex and heterogeneous experience.

Resumen

La prejubilación es una modalidad de retiro laboral temprano que afecta a un grupo heterogéneo de trabajadores. Se administró una adaptación del Retirement Satisfaction Inventory (Floydet al., 1992) a una muestra de 638 prejubilados españoles. El objetivo era identificar tipos de prejubilados con semejanzas en la forma de salida laboral, posterior adaptación al retiro y características sociodemográficas. Los datos fueron analizados mediante análisis de conglomerados, diferenciándose entre los prejubilados que desean aceptar la oferta de retiro temprano y los no voluntarios. Los resultados muestran que la salida laboral de los primeros está motivada por la oportunidad de realizar actividades de interés personal en el retiro, estando expuestos a menores presiones organizacionales durante su salida del trabajo, y valoraron notablemente la mayor libertad y control de sus vidas tras la salida laboral. Por su parte, los prejubilados no voluntarios manifestaron haber recibido presiones organizacionales para forzar la salida organizacional. Dentro de este grupo se distinguen dos subgru- pos en función del nivel formativo y profesional. El análisis de las experiencias de transición y ajuste post-laboral supone una aproximación para la comprensión de un fenómeno complejo y heterogéneo.

Keywords:

• Adjustment to post-working life
• cluster analysis
• early retirement
• motivation towards retirement

Palabras clave:

• Adaptación post-laboral
• análisis de conglomerados
• prejubilación
• motivación hacia el retiro