Almost All German Companies Fail to Preserve Retirees' Expertise, New Data Reveals
23.06.2026 - 21:34:26 | boerse-global.de
A study by the Alixio Group Switzerland, covering November 2025 to March 2026, found that 82 percent of companies say they greatly value the know-how of employees aged 60 and over. Yet the same share of businesses retire those workers exactly when they hit the statutory reference age — no later, no transition plan. The gap between rhetoric and practice is stark, and it may soon come at a staggering cost.
Demographic tide accelerates
The numbers from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, published Tuesday, show why the issue is urgent. By 2040, roughly 13.3 million workers will reach the retirement age of 67. That figure equals about 30 percent of the country’s current labor-force potential. The aging trend has been building for years: in 2015, workers over 55 made up 20.7 percent of the workforce; by 2025, the share had climbed to 27 percent. Today, 5.5 million people are aged 55 to 59, and another 4.5 million are between 60 and 64.
The cohorts entering the labor market cannot numerically replace the departing Baby Boomers. On Tuesday, a parliamentary commission on pensions handed new reform proposals to Friedrich Merz and Bärbel Bas, aiming to secure the system’s long-term financing.
The multi-trillion-dollar knowledge gap
Beyond headcounts, a global study released Tuesday by eGain and Deloitte warns of a "knowledge exodus" with a price tag to match. Titled Der 9-Billionen-Dollar-Wissensexodus — "The $9 Trillion Knowledge Exodus" — the report finds that 92 percent of companies worldwide have failed to systematically capture the experience of long-serving employees. The authors project production losses ranging from $6.9 trillion to $9.6 trillion as tacit know-how simply evaporates. In the United States alone, roughly 30 million people will turn 65 within four years. The experts propose a five-stage framework to document and transfer critical knowledge before it walks out the door.
Health pressures push early retirement
Meanwhile, an earlier exit from the workforce is becoming the norm. The DAK-Gesundheitsreport 2026, drawn from a survey of about 7,000 employees and data on 2.4 million insured individuals, reveals that more than half of workers over 50 aim to retire before the standard age. Among those with health limitations, the share rises to 60 percent. The health toll on older employees who stay is significant: at age 66, the sick-leave rate stands at 11 percent — nearly double the 5.8 percent rate for 50-year-olds. DAK chief Andreas Storm is calling for stronger workplace health-management programs to keep older staff fit enough to continue working.
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A policy push for later exits
To stem the brain drain, voices are growing louder for tax breaks and lower non-wage labor costs for older employees. The goal, advocates say, is to make work beyond the retirement threshold financially attractive. Without such incentives, the mounting experience loss will only worsen as Germany’s demographic wave crests.
