Retirement age at 67

What demands will be placed on the labour market by the gradual implementation of a higher age - culminating at age 67 - for receiving full social insurance retirement benefits? Heinrich Tiemann, Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs, stresses that not only the federal government and state and municipal authorities must make adjustments but also the parties involved in labour negotiations at the company and industry-wide levels. Stefanie Wahl, IWG Bonn, sees "the biggest adaptation burden" for enterprises and employees: "The latter must achieve their international competitiveness - with innovations and productivity - by using their current, and ageing, employees. The latter must do everything to assure that they meet the professional and physical-psychological demands of their jobs up to retirement age." Alexander Gunkel, Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), calls for complementing, employment-enhancing reforms, in particular in the field of education. And for Reinhold Schnabel, University of Duisburg, the key is to safeguard the qualifications of employees.