Flexible pensions 'inescapable' -Poletti

(ANSA) - Rome, September 2 - Italians need to be flexible about when they retire so as to make room for younger people to have jobs, Labour Minister Giuliano Poletti said Wednesday.
    The theme, to be tackled in the government's stability law is "inescapable," Poletti told Radio anch'io, adding that he concurred with similar remarks by the head of the INPS social security agency, Tito Boeri, who said pension flexibility would help to reduce youth unemployment.
    Earlier Poletti told the Corriere della Sera that "there is another piece of labour reform that needs to be done ... to re-introduce a certain level of flexibility in pensions".
    "Keeping people inside firms is one of the factors that prevents young people finding a job".
    "We mustn't let slip the opportunity of a general picture that finally is improving," Poletti said.
    Employment and GDP figures "confirm a recovery that, certainly, doesn't have the rhythm that everyone wants but marks the end of the most difficult period of the post-War period. And they certify the increase in stable employment".
    Poletti added that "permanent jobs must be the normal way of hiring again".