Larger companies tend to still have a higher proportion of employees in defined-benefit plans. According to 2014 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 41% of workers at companies with 500 employees or more participate in such plans, compared with just 16% in the U.S. private sector as a whole. Overall, there were 15.7 million active participants in private-sector defined-benefit pension plans in 2012, according to the Labor Depatment. That represents a 48% decline from 1980, which was the peak of participation in such plans. “Most of the major plans are certainly going to be affected in a meaningful way” by the mortality changes, said Bruce Cadenhead, chief actuary for the U.S. retirement business at Mercer, another consulting firm.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/longer-lives-hit-firms-with-pension-plans-hard-1424742593