Retirement : being put out to pasture?

The study of the preparations for retirement and the guidance of retired workers from EDF-GDF is interesting in more ways than one. There are more than three thousand employees who retire each year from these companies to go into "professional inactivity". A course is offered to prepare them for this transition, which is sometimes predictable, often endured, always more or less feared. Many retired employees agreed to take part in a survey which showed that they live out their retirement in the same way as they lived their working life. Those who were always active still have no time, those who had an awareness of their work environment join associations, those who were introverts become even more so. All undergo an inevitable process of self-analysis, some more easily than others. Most have to rebuild their identity, which until now was based on professional activities of which they are now deprived. From an individual and social point of view the stakes are far from negligible. It is a question of making a success out of the final part of their lives and they will soon represent twenty percent of the population.