Historically, people are trained to enter and remain in the labor market, but in general, workers are not prepared to leave work.
It is known that work is the axis that articulates and structures the lives of people and therefore of society as a whole. Work has a central position in the lives of individuals and these, are developed in the personal, family and social face due to work and the results that are obtained from it.
As we can see, most of today's societies are configured around work. The importance given to it is not exclusively a choice of the person, but is conditioned by the meaning and value that each society and the historical moment assigns to it.
This is internalized through a complex process of socialization, in which the family, culture, education and the economic social areas in which they interact are part.
People move within a continuity and a change. That is why we understand that human life is change, and daily living is change, and this means going from one biological and emotional stage to another stage. Each of these stages has its own characteristics, contents, interests, limitations and possibilities.
The passage of time marks the chronological age and this determines the ages of childhood, adolescence, youth, adult and older adult.
Also some events that develop in the course of life, are those that signal the beginning and end of the different stages that require numerous adaptation processes: to school, to the first job, to marriage, to the loss of loved ones, etc. (P. Lain calls these phases "Successive Lives").
When life cycles are being completed, along with the normal development of events that mark the passage of time in a person's family, social and work spheres, they rarely stop to think and plan their future retirement or job retirement.
As values prevail in society that exalt youth (speed, competitiveness, flexibility, etc.), it is envisioned as the only source of construction, development and success, this leads to conceiving retirement or retirement as something hostile, which It frightens and creates a resistance to start this stage of life. Stage that society assigns to old age and it does not enjoy a good predicament, which relegates older adults to play non-functional roles.
It should be noted that not all people react to retirement or retirement in the same way, which is why we consider it important to prepare for retirement. It is necessary to clarify that the preparation for retirement or retirement is not that they are going to tell you what to do in the future and how, or they are always reminding you of a situation or condition that, in many cases, they do not want to think about.
The worker must know how to adapt and face his new condition of retired, learning and accepting it naturally.
Faced with the social and personal fact of retirement or retirement, a series of questions, doubts and hesitations arise in each person affected, which in many cases is difficult to overcome. On the other hand, these situations do not present themselves in the same way, nor do they affect people with the same intensity. There are many factors to consider, such as health, economy, family, friends, sports and recreational activities that you do, or if you have or consider joining other occupations. This makes each future retiree have a different attitude.
Regardless of how old they are, for any individual accustomed to structuring their life around work activity, "to which they dedicate much of their time and energy", the abrupt change represented by the interruption of the activity can cause some disorders, such as: feelings of worry, anxiety, restlessness, uselessness and confusion that in many cases causes loss of self-esteem.
This is understandable if we consider the value assigned to work in our culture, this is a generator of personal and work identity, at the same time, sustainer of individual and social esteem.
Retirement or retirement is a transition to a new stage of life, if we see it as negative, it can affect our identity that was previously associated with work, with consequences on physical and mental health, affecting and disorganizing social and family relationships.
The way in which people adapt to the situation of retired or retired, will depend on several factors; One of them is the level of preparation for this event and also the characteristics of personality, such as the flexibility to accept new situations, what are their levels of initiatives and the clarity for the elaboration and expansion of the life project.
There are several important aspects to consider:
1. If economic resources can cover basic needs.
2. What level of social interactions and type of participation do you have in various community activities not related to employment.
3. What are the alternative interests (hobbies) that allow you to structure your free time productively.
4. What is the social support network you have (family and friends).
5. And the degree of health and physical well-being.
That is why many of the students of older adulthood point out: that society pays great attention to preparing the individual for insertion in the professional and labor world, through education and training programs, but they have not incorporated the importance of preparing for the transition from working life to retirement or retirement.
The preparation for retirement should not begin a few months before this event, but much earlier and continuously, it should be aimed at preventing its negative effects and allowing the subject to move from the productive stage, to the creative plane, to maintain their sense of identity, their self-esteem and readjust their life project to the new situation. This must be carried out through a comprehensive project and within the organization or institution, which considers the social level and the individual level of the workers.
At the social level, the project must construct and contemplate actions whose directionality must be to counter myths and negative visions that exist about older adults, such as the unproductive or passive stage. At the same time, create conditions for the retiree or retiree to participate and reflect on the new situation and its implications.
At the individual level, it is important to provide real information in relation to the characteristics of this stage and how to carry out free time, decrease in roles, reorganization of the network of family and friendship ties, etc.
All stages of life have the possibility of intellectual development and that of retirement can and should be a productive stage and it is much more so, if there is adequate preparation for it.
This preparation must be approached as an exceeding instance in the process of working life, where the person has a time, a time that is not empty, but you have to know how to fill it with content, perhaps, content other than the previous ones, but they allow expression and greater interpersonal communications, which removes isolation and loneliness.
People must understand that time maintains its dynamics, for this reason our chronology is fulfilled beyond our voluntarism to stop it, that is why if we make a good preparation for the moment of retirement or retirement we are going to allow ourselves to enter adulthood in a completely different way, it is about visualizing our future in an active and positive way.
