Retirement Age in Italy and What It Means for Long-Term Hires

If you hire in Italy, you hire for the long run. Italian employment is built around stable, open-ended contracts. So the age at which your employee can retire matters for your planning, even if that date is decades away.

This article covers the retirement thresholds reported for 2026, 2027 and 2028. It explains how they affect succession, retention and budgeting.

Old-age pension: age and contributions  

The standard route is the old-age pension. It has two conditions: a minimum age and a minimum contribution history.

The requirements reported for the coming years are:

The contribution minimum stays flat. The age moves up. Your employees will not all retire at the same age, and the date depends on the year they reach the threshold.

Early retirement: contributions only  

Italy also has an early pension. It is based on contribution history alone, with no age condition. The thresholds differ for men and women.

The requirement rises each year. Anyone planning to leave early needs a longer contribution record than the year before.

What this means for your workforce plan  

Plan for later exits  

The age thresholds are going up. A person who started work in their twenties can reach the early route in their sixties. The old-age route needs them to stay past their mid-sixties. Do not assume a fixed exit age when you build a long-term headcount plan. Model a range instead.

The gap between the two routes  

An employee with a very long contribution record can leave before the old-age age. One with a shorter record will stay until the age requirement is met. Two people of the same age in the same role can have very different exit dates. Ask about contribution history early in the relationship when it affects your plans. Your payroll provider or advisor can help you read it correctly.

Succession and knowledge transfer  

Rising thresholds mean senior people stay longer. That helps with continuity. It can also slow promotion paths for younger staff. If you run a small Italian team, the same senior hire may stay in the role through most of a decade. Make sure you have a clear development path for the people below them.

Retention for senior hires  

Senior hires near the early-retirement threshold have a real choice to make. They can leave once they meet the contribution requirement, or stay. Roles that offer flexibility, meaningful work and fair pay are easier to keep filled. Roles that feel like a countdown are not. Talk with senior staff about their plans before the date arrives, not after.

Budgeting  

A longer working life means a longer payroll commitment. Salary, social contributions and benefits continue for each additional month. When you model the total cost of a hire over many years, use the thresholds above and revisit them each year. They are updated on a regular schedule, and the figures here are for 2026 to 2028 only.

A note on sources  

The figures above come from a press review of the new requirements for 2027 and 2028. They are secondary reporting. Check them against official guidance before you make a binding decision, and again each year when the next set of thresholds is published.

Practical checklist  

• Do not assume one retirement age for all Italian employees.
• Separate the old-age route from the early route in your planning.
• Ask your advisor to check each senior employee’s contribution record.
• Review the thresholds every year.
• Build succession plans before senior staff become eligible.

Want to see what a long-term hire in Italy costs? Try our cost calculator.