Young workers clicking with real value of pensions

A STREAM of UK employers have revamped their pension schemes, including providing online tools, to meet the needs of younger workers aged 16 to 35, a study has found.

Angela Seymour-Jackson: refreshing

According to research published yesterday by Edinburgh-based life and pensions firm Aegon, which employs 2,000 staff in Scotland, 87 per cent of employers have changed their workplace pension schemes to suit this demographic.

Aegon said that businesses were adapting their practices because they realised 16 to 35 year olds represented a “significant” part of the workforce.

It discovered that 26 per cent have introduced a more rewarding overall pension scheme to attract young talent, and 23 per cent have adopted digital tools to help them manage their contributions.

However, Aegon said more needed to be done in this area, given that 39 per cent believe so-called “millennials” prefer to use online over other forms of pensions communication.

Angela Seymour-Jackson, MD of workplace solutions at Aegon UK, said that a quarter of the UK population is aged 16 to 35, and that they were increasingly turning to workplace pensions. “More workers aged 22 to 29 have signed up for a workplace pension since 2013 than any other age group,” she said.

She added that for the younger generation, digital tools were crucial for pension interaction, saying: “Traditional methods of engagement are slowly losing their appeal, so it’s refreshing to see UK businesses increasingly taking responsibility for the finances of their younger workforce.” Pensions were a key way of keeping young staff, Seymour-Jackson said.