Rush to Retire Adds to Workforce Woes
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- Published: Tuesday, 06 January 2026 09:54
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Two recent stories have provided a reminder that the ‘leaky bucket‘ meme remains a remarkably accurate representation of the UK‘s approach to dental workforce planning.
Across a wide variety of skilled occupations, and particularly in dentistry, there is a trend for professionals to look for early retirement or reduce their hours.
In Scotland, the Lib Dems have noticed that a lot of dentists are taking early retirement, with stories in the press outlining the problem.
Since 2015, 999 dentists have retired before reaching the usual state retirement age. As time progressed, the number of early departures has increased. In the five years to 2019 there were 404 early retirements, but this rose to 478 in the following five years.
The opportunity to make some political capital was not lost, with Lib Dem Scottish affairs spokeswoman Susan Murray saying that the situation meant that “under the SNP many Scots can’t find an NHS dentist for miles” and accusing the ruling party of being, “behind two decades of decay.”
At the same time the Telegraph was running a story headlined: “No point in working harder’: the rise of part-time Britain.”
GDPUK readers will likely be familiar with the reasons given, and may agree with the papers assessment that, “Millions are taking action to avoid being punished for working harder.”
The story looked at a now retired cardiac surgeon who reflected on a time in the past when reducing one’s hours “wasn’t the done thing”.
His children, both of whom are now doctors with families of their own, have done things differently. One works four days a week, the other for three days. Their reduced hours reflect the effects of a combination of childcare pressures and tax levels.
Reflecting on the recent move that would bring his pension pot into his estate’s value, the retired surgeon commented: “My children see that there’s a likelihood much of (that money) will be confiscated and thus decided not to repeat my mistake. To my mind, going part-time is a waste of their talents, but they rightly say there’s no point in working harder.”
Highly skilled professionals at the pinnacle of their careers are choosing to work less, with employees in Britain working 2.3 fewer hours a week on average than they were at the turn of the century. Whilst a modest change for individuals, this equates to 68 million working hours lost per week, or 1.7 million full-time workers.
This decline has been steepest among high-flyers, seeing the average working week of the top 10pc of earners drop from 48 hours to 44 hours since 1995.
Societal change have also played a part with the rise of job shares and more men choosing to work part time, their numbers doubling from 7pc to 14pc, according to ONS data.
Some of this may reflect a group who can afford to reduce their hours and change their work-life balance in the interests of better wellbeing. Fiscal incentives and disincentives will also play a role, which include the various tax traps and cliff edges, which come in at the income levels of many dentists.
The data suggests that more white-collar workers in high-earning jobs are going part-time. The professions with the largest shift towards part-time work between 2011 and 2025 were media – including PR workers and journalists – with a rise of 9.1pc, chief executives (5.6pc) and health professionals (2.3pc).
While most dentist’s self-employed or limited company status may somewhat alter the tax situation, the particular stresses of dentistry will for many be another incentive to cut back, or stop work, as soon as it is affordable.
Those responsible for workforce planning remain unwilling to try and reduce the disincentives to carrying on working, two particular examples being tax traps and the NHS contract. The Department of Health and Social Care is instead committed to its strategy of getting more overseas dentists onto the register, and training more dental therapists, to try and plug the gaps.
Nor are the opposition willing to grasp the nettle, with the Lib Dem Scottish Affairs spokesman proposing more dental schools and increased training places, as their chosen routes to improving access. It may turn out that the leaky bucket is not going to be fixed anytime soon.
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