A great deal of the theory concerning the impact of retirement on the individual rests on the assumptions that most people who work develop a strong work orientation, that this orientation gets carried over into retirement, and that this in turn creates negative results for the individual. This research reports an attempt to establish the extent to which a high degree of work orientation is carried over into retirement among teachers and telephone company employees. From responses of 3704 retired teachers and telephone employees it was found that only a small minority carry a high degree of work orientation over into retirement. Most retired people studied exhibited a low degree of work orientation.