SUCCESSFUL PROMOTION OF EARLY RETIREMENT - A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH

In an age of unemployment, freeing jobs for younger, more skilled work ers, is an apt contribution to a social malaise. Potential candidates for early retirement, on a voluntary basis, can be successfully target ed by a critical examination of personality variables, contextual feat ures and moderating factors that impinge on the employees' propensity to quit their jobs. The optimum financial inducement is a major factor in successful negotiations between the employer and the employee. It can be computed using a compact formula based on a variety of financia l payoffs and the worker's subjective assessment of the value of quitt ing early. The utility of this quantitive approach for organizations c ontemplating both early retirement programs and staff cuts are discuss ed.