The rapid growth of the ageing population in Brazil brought a variety of challenges, one of which is the need to prepare older workers in the transition from work to retirement. There is also a lack of research in this area, especially towards workers who work in urban cleaning. This study investigated retirement planning of street sweepers and aspects prioritized for their well-being during future retirement. Six street sweepers of 45 years or more, who were at least two years from retirement, participated in six meetings. At the first meeting, they were sensibilized to this theme and participated in a semi-structured interview. Following this, four meetings were held with focus groups, using key factors related to well-being during retirement. At the sixth and last meeting, continuing with the focus group, the participants assessed working conditions and how these could impact their own retirement. The data analysis revealed that family relationships are the main predictor for well being during retirement, followed by health, which was directly related to their working conditions and which needed to be addressed by the employer. For these street sweepers, leisure was in second place, but they expected that in retirement years, they would have more time for this and also be able to travel. This study recommends a few measures for implementation by Human Resources, such as improving work conditions, reducing work hours before retirement and implementing a retirement preparation program.
Retirement; Street sweepers; Human resources; Quality of life; Health promotion; Retirement preparation program