In November 2026, the OECD published Pensions Outlook 2026, showing that growth in pension assets can coexist with a substantial gap in the contributions needed to meet retirement income objectives.
The OECD estimates the additional saving needed to complement mandatory pensions under its modelling assumptions. For male employees earning the average wage, that contribution gap is at least 10% of earnings in 17 of the 41 countries covered. The modelled gap is larger for women than for men in 17 countries, and for the self-employed than for employees in 31. These are not measurements of every worker’s actual savings or a uniform contribution rate that an employer should adopt.
The results depend on the retirement income objective, the mandatory pension benefits represented and assumptions about a worker’s career and saving. Before applying a country estimate to a workforce, a committee should check how closely those assumptions resemble the people in its plan. A group with short service, part-time work or interrupted careers may have a different exposure from an illustrative full-career employee. Private savings and household circumstances also vary.
Start with the outcome for each cohort
A practical employer review can divide the workforce into a few anonymised groups by age, pay and service history. For each group, show the expected income from public provision separately from employer and personal saving, using transparent assumptions for returns, fees, wage growth and inflation. Include a weaker investment scenario and an interruption to contributions. The purpose is to see which decisions change the result, not to present a projection as a guaranteed benefit.
Cross-border careers deserve a separate check. A worker’s national pension history may be incomplete in the employer’s records, and a transfer or change in residence can affect the advice needed. The group should identify missing information rather than filling it with an assumption of continuous mandatory coverage. Local specialists can then review the cases most likely to distort the workforce analysis.
Test affordability before relying on voluntary saving
A matching contribution may reward employees who can afford to save more while leaving others behind. Ask how many eligible workers obtain the full match and how that varies by pay and working pattern. If participation is high but most employees remain at the default rate, test the expected income at that rate. Strong enrolment is useful, but it does not establish that the default is sufficient.
The committee can compare changes in employer funding, default contributions and escalation with improvements in guidance. Each option has a different cost and distributional effect. Where affordability is the constraint, a campaign asking people to save more may have little effect. Where complexity or inertia is the obstacle, a simpler choice and clearer explanation may be valuable. The distinction should be tested with workforce evidence rather than inferred from aggregate assets.
Give advice a defined role
The report also examines retirement advice. Employers can map where workers receive general information, where they can obtain individual advice and who is accountable for it. Review the service at decisions such as joining, changing jobs, transferring savings and drawing income. Confirm the qualifications, charges and potential conflicts of the adviser, and ensure that employees understand which outcomes are uncertain.
For a multinational group, common governance can sit above different national plans. Require the same questions about income objectives, affordability and vulnerable cohorts, while allowing local teams to reflect public pensions and tax treatment. The next useful committee paper would identify one material inadequacy risk, cost several responses and explain who would benefit from each. That turns the OECD’s evidence into an employer decision without treating an international model as a personal prescription.
Sources
OECD – published report and findings | Report and release: 4 Nov 2026 – OECD quantifies retirement contribution gaps after publishing Pensions Outlook
OECD | Primary background source; checked 5 November 2026 – Pensions Outlook 2026: executive summary ; Ensuring sufficiently high contributions to achieve retirement income objectives
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