Longitudinal employer–employee perspectives on the role of human capital investments for retirement transitions

2026-07-22

European and national ageing policies give high priority to increasing retirement age and employability of older people, but no effective solution exists. The project aims to provide practical recommendations based on evidence on the role of human capital investments (at individual and company level) for retirement transitions. This is still an understudied area in ageing research. It is also neglected by policy-makers who miss the fact that employees must be willing and able to work longer, and employers must be willing and able to provide adequate opportunities for extended employment. The project offers an innovative and comprehensive approach to integrate individual and company perspectives theoretically and empirically in a system-level context. It compares two countries that differ greatly across many aspects relevant to retirement decisions, this is Poland and the Netherlands. Empirical evidence is based on longitudinal (panel) data of individuals and employers (supplemented by cross-sectional data). The research adopts a lifecourse approach, considering employment situation and retirement decisions of individuals as a part of life-trajectory. The results will be intensively disseminated among scientist, experts, and policy-makers. They will be also communicated to older people, employers, training and development organisations. The researcher will be based in the 'Work & Retirement' group in NIDI (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, part of KNAW) – a leading international institute for population studies, particularly for research on employers’ attitudes and behaviours towards ageing workforce. Professor Kène Henkens, a renowned expert in research on ageing labour markets and retirement, will be the supervisor. Training and two-way knowledge transfer will focus in particular on skills in longitudinal statistics and writing, and on knowhow of project management.

Netherlands

2026-01-15