Vijay Monany on fascinating work instead of retirement

If the French have recently striked and demonstrated en masse against the government's plan to raise the retirement age to 62, it's because their working environment doesn't offer them all it should, writes Vijay Monany from the management consulting firm Khampus in the daily Le Monde: "The reason why the French prefer retirement to work is exactly the same as why they prefer holidays to work. ... They are bored by their work, and they develop their interests outside of work. The real paradox is that it's only when they retire that people feel their life is starting, that they can take control of their destiny and read, travel, follow their interests, or spend time with their friends. ... One day we'll understand that social progress does not consist in stringing together weeks of holiday, reducing the number of working hours or lowering the retirement age. One day we will understand that true progress consists in making work so interesting that there will be no difference between it and leisure time. One day we'll see that the solution to pension reform consists in rendering work so fascinating that no one wants to retire."

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