London – The ratio of elderly persons to the working-age population will dramatically increase in coming years in many parts of the world. With a declining labour force, an ageing population and looming healthcare and pension benefit costs, employers will play a critical role in shaping public policy and addressing these concerns, Mercer believes.
 
With the support of Mercer and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), the World Economic Forum (WEF) has just published ‘Transforming Pensions and Healthcare in a Rapidly Ageing World: Opportunities and Collaboration Strategies’.
 
“This report inspires employers and policymakers to expand and shift their strategic thinking,” said M. Michele Burns, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mercer. “The report makes a compelling case for immediate and collaborative action by the private and public sectors. Even more impressive, the analysis sets out a pragmatic blueprint for transformation, by identifying the most promising strategies and providing key scenarios of the future against which to consider the effectiveness of each. The key strategies range from the now existing, but underappreciated, to new and highly innovative options that merit serious consideration.”
 
In conjunction with the WEF report, and influenced by WEF insights and analysis, Mercer has published a special ‘Perspective’ in which the firm’s leading authorities draw upon practical experience consulting in retirement, healthcare and workforce management – areas each affected by the ageing of the world’s population. The Perspective and WEF report can be downloaded at www.mercer.com/WEF.
 
Transforming pensions and healthcare: Employers as players or spectators?
Governments set the rules within which employers must operate and also create the background environment. If a dialogue between governments and employers is based only around an equation about the cost and adequacy of benefits, this may well become confrontational. Alternatively, constructive dialogue may create win/win scenarios if employers, encouraged by or in concert with governments, take initiatives such as promoting work for older people, providing financial education, improving the processes for savings or improving annuities to make the exchange of lump-sum payouts more effective.

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