The Coronavirus pandemic has led to a rise in flexible retirement, with more than half (56%) of people retiring this year not planning on giving up work completely, according to new research.

One in four (27%) retirees surveyed for Standard Life Aberdeen’s Class of 2021 report said they plan to go part-time rather than leave employment altogether. One in five (19%) said they plan to dedicate time to volunteering and one in twenty (6%) plan to set up their own business rather than fully retiring.

A third of those who retired in 2020 (34%) decided to continue working to some degree in retirement. A further one in five (21%) are considering returning to work part-time.

Overall, those who retired in 2020 were glad they did with 70% saying they are happy with their decision.

John Tait, retirement advice specialist at Standard Life Aberdeen, said: “What it means to retire has been evolving for some time now. Long gone are the days of everyone having a set date or a set age from which they’ll never work again. Instead there is a noticeably growing trend towards flexi-retirement and continuing to work.

“The pandemic has clearly only further fuelled this flexi-retirement trend – with our research showing that more of the Class of 2021 are planning to carry on working to some degree compared to 2020 retirees.

“Retiring amidst a pandemic wouldn’t have been what last year’s retirees had planned for, and perhaps going back to work was made more appealing given the lockdown restrictions. However, with restrictions now gradually lifting, many will be gearing up to start enjoying the retirement they had planned for.”

Consumer research of 2,000 UK adults who were either due to retire in the next 12 months, or had retired in the past 12 months, was carried out by Censuswide for Standard Life Aberdeen in February 2021.