"Yes" is the short answer. But "yes, I hope so" is the longer answer.

I'm thinking about it because my Dad is 60 today. He’s in Spain on holiday with Mum.

He’s been in Spain on holiday with Mum since he retired, aged 54. (My quick calculations tell me I need to work until I’m 90). He even got Mum to take up golf (different clubs of course).

So they’ve been swanning around Spain for six years now.

And they deserve it. Dad worked all his life for the same brake linings manufacturer that Granddad worked for all his life. He met Mum there. My brother, my sister and I have all worked there at some point. Half of our home town works there. You get the idea.

Bob Dylan said: “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”

Well that’s fine if you’re Bob Dylan. The rest of us have to go into the office. However, even if we can’t reach Bob’s ideal, attitudes to work have surely shifted towards it over the last generation, and are being shifted still by Generation Y.

What do the kids who’ve grown up in MySpace want to get out of their jobs? Increasingly the answer is not security or money, but new skills, new opportunities, honesty and loyalty.

Many check their company’s corporate responsibility policies before they sign up. Many choose more annual leave over a higher salary. Everyone wants the opportunity to travel. If you’re an organisation that wants to attract the best people, increasingly, the best people choose you.

It’s great. But would we trade all that choice to be able to retire at 54?

p.s. I've found proof that Rock is good for your health. I injured my back playing rugby at the weekend. I’m in a lot of pain. But it turns out the Health and Safety Executive has launched a spoof rock band called Bäackpain to help people with – you guessed it – bad backs. Thanks to Alexandra Pullin for bringing this to my attention.