New research from leading online pension provider PensionBee finds that 63% of UK workers are currently thinking about or in the process of changing their job, in what has been dubbed the ‘Great Resignation’.
More than half (51%) of respondents who are getting ready to make these employment changes already have several pensions from previous jobs, and are worried that they will lose track of them during the move. PensionBee analysis projects that as much as £113 billion in pension savings could be lost track of, by 10.4 million consumers, as a consequence of the rise in job switching.
According to PensionBee research, most job switchers (67%) would like to bring all of their old pensions together into one pot but are worried about the complexity involved. Only 14% of respondents have a plan for their current workplace pension that they feel confident about, whilst a third haven’t given it any thought. Additionally, most (66%) don’t know how much they’ve saved in total across their pension pots.
Romi Savova, Chief Executive Officer of PensionBee, comments: “Whilst it’s very encouraging to see workers taking positive action to pursue careers that would make them happier, this could result in a loss of more than £100 billion in pension savings if they don’t carefully consider a plan for their existing workplace savings.
Our research highlights the importance of consumers having access to an easy pension consolidation process in order to avoid losing track of their hard-earned retirement savings when switching jobs. Pension providers must take away the jargon, paperwork, and complexity, and instead simplify pensions using digital technology. With frequent job switching now a common practice, savers should have the ability to combine their old pensions in one pot and be able to monitor these savings regularly.”
Appendix
Table 1: UK Consumer Survey - Job switching
Source: PensionBee, August 2021. Respondents: 797.
Table 2: UK Consumer Survey - Current workplace pension
Source: PensionBee, August 2021. Respondents: 500.
Table 3.1: UK Consumer Survey - Pension consolidation and visibility
Source: PensionBee, August 2021. Respondents: 500.
Table 3.2: UK Consumer Survey - Pension consolidation and visibility
Source: PensionBee, August 2021. Respondents: 500.
Table 3.3: UK Consumer Survey - Pension consolidation and visibility
Source: PensionBee, August 2021. Respondents: 500.
Table 4: Pension savings at risk
Source: PensionBee, August 2021. Combination of PensionBee, ONS, and Government data
Footnotes
