Abstract
BackgroundIn workforce planning for oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the Netherlands, it is important to plan timely, as these dental specialists are required to earn both medical and dental degrees. An important factor to take into account in workforce planning is the outflow of the profession through retirement. In the workforce planning in the Netherlands, it was assumed that retirement plans are a predictor for the actual moment of retirement. The purpose of this study was to investigate this assumption.MethodsA standardised survey to investigate the work activity and retirement plans of oral and maxillofacial surgeons was conducted seven times between 2003 and 2016. With some minor variations, in every edition, all oral and maxillofacial surgeons aged 55 years and older who did not indicate to be retired in an earlier edition were invited to participate. The data of all seven editions was analysed to investigate what factors influence the actual retirement age. For the analyses of the data, ANOVA and linear regression were employed.ResultsThe response rate was at least 80% in all editions. For all editions combined, 185 surgeons were invited one or more times, of whom 170 responded at least once. Between 2003 and 2016, the mean preferred retirement age increased from 63.7 to 66.7. Two thirds of the respondents who participated in more than one edition had revised their preferred retirement age upwards. Regarding the difference between preferred and actual retirement age, 45% of the oral and maxillofacial surgeons retired at a higher age than originally preferred and another 14% was still working at the age the originally preferred to retire. Linear regression shows that preferred retirement age is associated with sex and the number of working hours and that actual retirement age is associated with preferred retirement age, earlier preference to decrease working hours and working in non-academic hospitals.ConclusionAltogether, it seems that in this group the preferred retirement age has some predictive value, but the oral and maxillofacial surgeons tend to retire at a higher age than they originally preferred to.
Highlights
In workforce planning for oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the Netherlands, it is important to plan timely, as these dental specialists are required to earn both medical and dental degrees
The mean retirement age rose from 60.4 years in 2006 to 63.9 years in 2016
The increase of the mean retirement age seems to have slowed in recent years, it is not inconceivable that the retirement age will rise again
Summary
In workforce planning for oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the Netherlands, it is important to plan timely, as these dental specialists are required to earn both medical and dental degrees. Between 2000 and 2016, the mean retirement age of employees in the Netherlands increased from 61.0 to 64. The mean retirement age of physician specialists, of whom 61% are selfemployed and not employees, has increased from 61.3 years in 2000 to 63.2 years in 2013 [2]. In 2013, the Dutch government implemented the ‘general old age pension and pension target age act’ (wet verhoging AOW- en pensioenrichtleeftijd). Under this law, the legal retirement age will gradually increase from 65 to 67 years in 2021 and possibly further onwards. Life expectancy is expected to increase in the coming years [5]
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