Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

A striking feature in most firms is that women are orientated towards exit at 55 via the
early old-age pension for women, while men exit at the regular retirement age of 65 – i.e. a
whole of ten years later. That makes retirement a gender issue in the Polish case.
Interviewees explained the orientation of women towards the earliest possible exit with the
double burden of women at home and in work.
Anther interesting observation on the gender issue was the belief in traditional pastime
orientations of men and women:
“Men in total prefer work to being at home, and probably that is (…) generally linked to that that
women prefer (…) home more, (…) and the man always runs away from home.” (Firm PL-
16_HRM)
In firms where personnel reductions were taking place, I observed an intermingling of
push and pull factors of the early exit decision. Workers who meet the requirements for a
pre-retirement benefit or the early old-age pension for women or for persons working in
´special´ conditions are more willing to make use of that option in times of personnel
reductions than in times of stable employment. Their decision is further sparked by the
contradictory movements of the legislator and the ambiguity as to the further development
of the pension system. Especially before the lowering of pre-retirement benefits in mid-
2004, there was a run on early exit. The same phenomenon can be observed with regard to
the expiring early old-age pension as retirees-to-be are uncertain whether bridging pensions
will be legislated in their place. The workers want to make use of the still available early
exit options even if they would prefer at the very moment to continue work, but they fear
unemployment should they be released at a later time.
The interviewees reported that before transformation, most older workers exited at
standard retirement age or on disability pensions (with the exception of workers working in
especially burdening conditions and women exiting in most cases at 55) despite the
existence of early retirement, as the employment situation in the firm was stable and there
were better job prospects on the external labour market.
The decision to retire is further sparked by financial incentives given by the employer,
e.g. more quicker promoting workers in pre-retirement age and granting them wage
increases in order to raise their future pension level, or giving workers who decide to exit
before standard retirement age a higher severance payment or financial compensation for
the difference between the pre-retirement benefit and former wages. In Firm PL-8, the
personnel manager expressed the financial incentives as follows: „At our firm, it pays out to
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