Workers rush to get early retirement
Nine out of 10 workers who retired in the last four months who had belonged to the former special funds of banks and state corporations that have now been incorporated in the Social Security Fund (IKA) were below the age of 62, according to the Labor Ministry’s Helios database.
The September-December 2014 data are quite revealing: The rate of new pensioners retiring before the age of 62 amounted to 76.33 percent of all new retirees in the public sector and to 64.34 percent for those insured by IKA, while those insured with the former special funds and aged under 62 reached a 91.96 percent rate.
The Helios figures, published on Friday, highlight the dominant trend observed over the last few years among workers who make the most of all existing clauses and loopholes in order to retire earlier than the general age of retirement, for fear of more government interventions to the social security system.
This trend, according to pension system insiders, has culminated in the last four months as a significant portion of workers rushed to retire through various special clauses introduced in recent years, while many who took up the offers of voluntary exit programs.
