Sainsbury’s strategy for meeting the challenge of the ageing population is to target older workers who are attracted by the opportunity to reduce working hours and achieve a better work-life balance but cannot manage on a part-time wage.

Sainsbury’s project is called the Personal Retirement Plan:

• employees can draw partially on their company pension to make up reduced salary
• the company pays the administration costs and contributes to the pension scheme to age 75
• members have a say in how the Plan is run.

The benefits are:

For the company – a more flexible workforce and a mixed-age workforce which, by more accurately reflecting customer profile, improves customer satisfaction, along with greater staff motivation, increased productivity and reduced business costs

For staff – shorter hours with no loss in income

The shopworkers union, USDAW, believes “flexible working can be a valuable and attractive option for staff, meeting their changing needs.”