SINGAPORE - If given a choice, four in 10 Singaporeans will retire at the age of 55, a recent survey found.

But two in three are realistic, and know that they will have to work at least till the age of 60, based on the survey released on Friday by international recruitment firm Randstad.

Randstad said that firms can take steps to coax their staff to work longer. Top of the list is to give older workers a more relaxed work schedule. Other moves include cutting the number of work hours and creating a friendlier work place.

Randstad country director for Singapore Michael Smith said the workers' desire to retire early can worsen the labour crunch here.

"Singapore is already facing a talent crisis, with many organisations finding it difficult to meet the demand for skills," he said.

"If a situation arises where a large group of the talent pool are unwilling to work to the retirement age, this will make the talent shortage challenge even more acute for organisations here."

More than 6,500 workers in Singapore aged 18 to 65 took part in the online poll between November and December last year.

The survey, however, was silent on the financial motivation of the workers, including how they expected to support themselves in their retirement years.

Randstad is expected to release more findings at its awards ceremony for model employers next week.