Iraqi Writer Questions Whether Retirement Has Become a Tool for Discarding Knowledge

SALADIN, Iraq — In a recent column, Iraqi writer Mohammed Hudhayr al-Anbari argues that retirement in some societies has come to be seen as the end of useful knowledge and experience, with university professors among those affected by that perception. Al-Anbari contends that unemployment is not caused by the presence of retired academics, but by structural economic weaknesses, insufficient investment and a mismatch between educational output and labor market demand. He says European and American universities typically retain retired faculty as emeritus or adjunct professors and academic advisers, allowing them to supervise postgraduate research, advise on curriculum development and serve on advisory boards of major companies and research centers. In advanced economies, he writes, accumulated knowledge is not automatically transferred, and retirement is therefore framed as a shift from executive duties to advisory and intellectual roles. In some developing countries, by contrast, that experience is not preserved, and an unnecessary sense of generational conflict is created, turning expertise into an easy target, the column argues. Al-Anbari concludes that retirement should mark the end of an institutional post, not the end of a scientific or social mission, and that individuals should be given space to remain productive as long as they are able. He closes by calling for the energy of the young and the wisdom of the experienced to work together, and by measuring societies by their capacity to respect a lifetime of human contribution.