We want to quit at 54

The Australian: We want to quit at 54 :

"MOST Australians aim for early retirement at 54 and are confident about maintaining their lifestyle when they do, yet only one in five knows what their income would be if they retired tomorrow."

I have read studies about how older people hold companies and businesses down. How companies and businesses which employ older people are thriving. People in their 20s are already thinking about when they will retire. Is anyone getting the idea that the workplace is getting us down? Turning us off? Doing us harm? We need to look at how working hours and conditions can be modified because older people probably would stay on if it were easy to work fewer hours and have a more flexible approach. They are the backbone of a work force because they just want to work , do the job and get it right.It's about job satisfaction and steady income. Younger people are trying to amass income, gain position, build a lifestyle. The older ones steady the work place and bring a great deal of experience, knowledge and capacity to troubleshoot. Younger ones can do the show pony stuff, achieve the big bursts of energy output for specific tasks and then get the credit they want to move on to something bigger and better.Older ones can support and encourage the young, but older people are very focussed on the job. As it stands, every one seems to be disenchanted and that means a down hill slide unless conditions are redressed and can better conform to the needs of individuals and companies/businesses.