An exodus of older government and quango staff could emerge as an unintended consequence of a much needed overhaul last year of Government workers’ pension fund.

David Annan, an economics lecturer at the Bermuda College, said the potential for employees aged 60 and above to choose early retirement was “a matter of legitimate concern for the community, particularly at a time when the Ministry of Economy and Labour is developing a policy framework aimed at retaining senior workers”.

In an opinion piece in today’s Royal Gazette, Dr Annan commented against the backdrop of the Public Service Superannuation Fund Amendment Act 2025, which was passed by legislators in September 2025.

By raising both the contributions scheme for pensions as well as the minimum age that different employees would be able to access them, the Act got bipartisan approval in Parliament.

It was said to have prevented the pension fund going bust in 20 years time, after savings were projected to run dry by 2045.

Dr Annan acknowledged that the PSSF, which pays the pensions of public servants, had been “severely underfunded” before the amendments brought by David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance.

However, in an opinion article published today in The Royal Gazette, Dr Annan characterised the pension fund reforms as switching the burden of risk from the collective to the individual, as workers approaching the finish line of retirement age might opt to take out their pensions early.

The amendments raise the minimum age for uniformed services to collect full pensions from 50 to 55, and for most other civil servants from 60 to 65.

Dr Annan highlighted the health and occupational risks for the former, such as police officers or firefighters, which he said stood to cause concern as the bar for retirement got raised.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Finance responded that workers would be buffered against sudden changes because the reforms, which will begin to take effect in April 2027 and end in 2035, would be phased to “allow for planning around a person’s retirement expectations”.

The spokeswoman added that implying that the changes would come abruptly was “unnecessarily alarmist”.

She said that, at present, uniformed services workers retire after attaining the age of 55 or, where he or she is below the rank of superintendent, divisional officer or deputy commissioner, “on completing 25 years of service, or 21 years of service if a prison officer.

“This age will move gradually, starting in April 2027, by one year every two years to be 60 years in 2035.”

Dr Annan said the clarifying details had not been “publicly available at the time the article was written” — but added that comeback from the ministry appeared to duck his argument that “a growing number of government and quango employees aged 60 and above are considering early retirement due to the pension changes”.

“This trend, if accurate, carries not only potential fiscal implications for the Government, but also operational and service delivery challenges across the public sector,” he added.

“A simple indicator would be to review data from the pensions section of the ministry showing how many individuals requested current pension statements in 2025 compared with 2024.

“I suspect that the increase will be substantial.”