California state workers are staying in their job longer and retiring later. Why?

California is on track to lose fewer employees to retirement than previous years, according to data for the first six months of 2024.

Preliminary numbers from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System showed that fewer state workers retired from civil service each month from January to June this year compared to the first half of 2023.

As of June, more than 2,900 public service employees had retired this year. Last year, 3,247 employees retired between January and June of 2023. In total, 9,996 employees retired in 2023.

Since the state reformed pension benefits over a decade ago, California’s public employees are staying in their positions longer. experts say, which is one reason retirement has slowed in recent years.

The CalPERS numbers include both California state workers and California State University employees who retired, which is how CalPERS reports the data. So far, just over 300 CSU employees have retired in 2024.

The most significant difference between 2023 and 2024 was observed this past April. That month, 22% fewer public workers retired that month compared to April 2023.

In 2020, state retirement peaked at nearly 12,500 employees. Since then, the number of people leaving their jobs with the state has generally decreased .

The declining number of retirements is driven by two primary forces, said Nari Rhee, director of the Retirement Security Program at the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center.

There are fewer older workers in the state’s workforce given a large number of Baby Boomers have already retired from the state, Rhee said. The youngest in that generation are 60 years old.

The other factor, Rhee said, can be attributed to changes California made over a decade ago that increased the age when public employees received pension benefits.

Those who started accruing benefits with the state before 2011 received a benefit factor of 2% at 55 years old. The benefit factor is a multiplier that determines how much retirees receive as part of their pension. The number of years of service and a worker’s highest average salary while working for the state is also include in calculating a retiree’s pension.

In 2011, California raised the age employees could get the same benefit at 60 years old. Two years later, the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act increased the age yet again to 62.

Looking back at CalPERS membership data from the past five years, Rhee said, the number of members who are 55 and older who have vested benefits has been slowly declining.

“They have to work longer to get the same benefit as somebody who was hired earlier,” Rhee said. “So you would expect people to be staying in their jobs longer.”