New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed new pension rules that would require workers to work at least 10 years, double the current requirement, to qualify for a pension. This is a really short-sighted idea for someone who professes to care about the quality of government workers, including the city’s 75,000 teachers. Raising the vestment age would save the city money in the short-term, but it would mean government workers would essentially not have a retirement plan until they reached 10 years of service. That would hurt recruitment and retention efforts, and it would also create strong push and pull incentives to stay on the job, regardless of burnout or a desire to pursue a new career, until they reach that 10-year milestone. For better ideas on revamping pensions, see here.
This blog entry first appeared on The Quick and the Ed.