Section Fourallowed to continue working. Determinations of fitness for
continued employment would presumably be based on
performance and medical evaluations. It is easy to visualize the
greater difficulty of telling a long-time, loyal employee that he
or she must retire because of performance inadequacies
instead of letting an impersonal policy serve as the standard. In
addition to some executives’ opposition to flexible approaches,
a large number of older workers favor early retirement in the
interests of the organization as well as the employee.^35
We were surprised to find that older respondents,
compared to younger respondents, were more
likely to agree that it is in the best interests of
both the organization and the employee for
senior exempt employees to retire at age 65 or
even earlier.^36