Funded by The Australian Research Council (Discovery Project)

Funding Amount: $247,596

Project start date: 2025

Researchers

  • Prof Prashant Bordia (CI), ANU 
  • Dr Rajiv Amarnani (CI), University of Western Australia
  • Prof Patrick Raymund James Garcia (CI), Macquarie University

Project Description

Demystifying employee disclosure of retirement plans at work. This project aims to improve and streamline the retirement transition process by investigating employees’ disclosure of retirement plans (DRP) at work. DRP is an important step in retirement transition with considerable benefit for both employees (obtain much needed support and accommodation on pathway to retirement) and employers (enables succession planning); but DRP is a fraught issue for employees who are wary of discrimination and lost opportunities. The project will generate vital knowledge aimed at improving retirement transition practices in the workplace. This knowledge will provide significant benefits to employees as well as employers on how to achieve wellbeing and productivity outcomes for Australia’s ageing workforce.

National Interest Statement

Projection shows 670,000 Australians are expected to retire in the next five years and in current practice, employers and employees are reactive to the gaps arising from retirement. In order to transition to a proactive approach, critical new knowledge is required to determine best practice approaches that involve robust and productive late-career employee-organisation relationships. This project will provide strategies and tools to enhance this transition. The research will determine a stronger grasp of how to effectively prepare and support both employees and employers by identifying major factors that disrupt the retirement process. Creating an online training program that focuses on preparing for retirement will contribute to new knowledge and resources that offer a more detailed initiative, based on the needs of Australian employees and employers. Additionally, the findings will be presented to the Australian Human Rights Commission, Council on the Ageing, public and private sector human resource professionals, and other relevant stakeholders. This project’s findings and recommendations will impact industry and government organisations and deliver immediate social, economic, and commercial benefits.