Impact of Retirement Age Policy on the Workforce of a Higher Education Institution in South Africa

Several key sectors including higher education institutions have a skills shortage in South Africa. Combined with aging of its workforce, higher education institutions may find it increasingly difficult to maintain adequate numbers of skilled and experienced employees to fulfill their core functions. This study assesses the impact of mandatory retirement age on the workforce of a higher education institution in South Africa. The data were obtained from the Human Resources of the higher education institution and using an estimation model. The results indicate that a mandatory retirement age of 60 years has a negative impact on the future size of permanent academic staff in the short-to-medium term. However, a mandatory retirement age of 65 years or even higher has positive impact on the number of permanent academic staff in the institution.