Editors Blog

As a man of the media I always cringe slightly when a "media storm" begins.

Unless you are one or are married to one, you're unlikely to like fat cats. It's no big deal. Why the surprise?

The storm surrounding ex-RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin's massive pension feeds off this hatred.

I don't think Sir Fred deserves his pension. But rather than saying "that's disgusting" or "grotesque" when hearing he's earning £13.3k per week, we need to answer some pretty tough questions...

Despite the recent High Court decision in the Heyday challenge to the default retirement age, which ruled that it is legal for employers to force workers to retire at 65, its days are surely numbered.

Pressure is growing on the government from all sides to scrap the DRA when it reviews the age early next year. Last week the International Monetary Fund called for a rise in the retirement age to help tackle the UK's debt mountain.

The Civil Service has said it will scrap its retirement age of 65 for all employees from April 2010; the equalities watchdog wants the Equality Bill amended to abolish the DRA; MPs of all sides are calling for it to be ditched.

Personnel Today has been campaigning for the past 12 months alongside the Employers Forum on Age for the government to commit to removing the default retirement age. Our online petition on the Number 10 website has now closed - with almost 550 signatories, many from leading HR directors.

We now await an indication from the government as to what happens next, but those employers already planning for a world without fixed retirement ages are in a very strong position.