Today, it was announced that WH Smith, the UK retailer, would close its company pension fund and restrict it only to existing members. This would mean that over the next few years, the pension fund would decline and eventually die out as current employees use it up.
This is an example of exactly what we have been predicting for a number of years, as Gen Xers hit the workplace in force. Companies will cite increasing costs, but the effect will be that Gen Xer workers will be excluded. At one level, this is not a problem as most Gen Xers would prefer to look after their own retirement planning anyway. But it will breed further divides between young and old in the workforce, and reinforce the lack of loyalty (if you don’t look after me, why should I look after you?) attitude of today’s young talent.