How the pensions of young professionals are getting higher

2023-09-19 19:15:46

Process engineering at Evonik: Provision for old age is also important for younger employees. Image: Saskia Stöhr

When the social partner model modeled on Sweden was introduced into company pensions, it was considered a revolution. It took a while to implement. Now it’s here – for example at the chemical company Evonik.

Intergenerational equity is a keyword often used when discussing the future of the social security system. “Generational equity is a huge problem,” says Susanna Adelhardt. She can afford the judgment. Adelhardt is not only responsible for employee benefits – in modern German: benefits – for the chemical company Evonik. Adelhardt is also an actuary, meaning she is trained to assess financial uncertainties in the areas of insurance and pensions.

Her assessment of previous commitments in the company pension scheme is clear: “With today’s knowledge, they were far too high.” The actuary calculates: In order to guarantee a company pension commitment of 42 percent of each employee contribution as an annual pension, an additional employer contribution of 625 was now required Percent of employee contribution.