Employers must limit the impact the credit crunch has on their pension provision, and reduce the responsibility of financial security placed upon individual employees, warns Friends Provident.

Preference of employee benefits changes in time, which the financial services group says is currently aimed towards pension schemes. Sixty-nine per cent of employees over the age of 50 would opt for an employer contributory pension scheme as their favoured benefit, and many employees are searching for long-term assistance ahead of short-term financial gains.

Research conducted by Friends Provident shows that a fifth of British workers have declined job offers on the grounds of unsatisfactory benefits including pensions. Due to increasing life expectancy the obligation is on employers to supply their workers with adequate pension schemes, and Friends Provident warns that this could lead to the consequences could be the end of traditional retirement as we know it today. If this outcome occurs the impact will be aimed towards future employees that will be made to continue working past retirement age (currently 65 but increasing to 68) to deliver an 'adequate' living standard.

Martin Palmer, head of pensions marketing at Friends Provident, commented: "In these challenging times we are urging employers to recognise what workers in the UK want and to look further down the line when reviewing the role attractive pensions offerings have in attracting and retaining their staff."

- Pensions Age June 2009

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