For the growing number of people who need to work deep into their 60s–or who flunk retirement, get bored and want a job–things are looking brighter.
With the Baby Boomers approaching retirement, more will be leaving the nation’s workforce than there are young people to replace them, creating worries of a critical worker shortage that could enhance the value of old-timers.
“In the old days, when people in their late 50s hung it up, companies would go to college campuses and recruit more. That’s going to become more difficult for many,” said John Carney of the Carney Group, the Blue Bell, Pa., firm that specializes in recruiting and placing older workers.
In 2008, there will be 34.1 percent more workers in the 50-to-59-year-old age group than there were in 1998, and 15 percent fewer workers 25 to 40, Carney said. In 2002, more than 1 in 8 people older than 64 were working or looking for work, the Census Bureau reported earlier this year.
Cashing in on positive aspects of this change requires preparation–for maturing workers and the companies that seek to employ the best of them, Carney said.
For workers, that preparation includes learning how to live in a world of Blackberries and e-mail on the go. Staying up to date on technology is critical to fitting in as companies employ fewer secretaries and technical staffers who come running when there’s a problem, they say.
Attitudes often must change, particularly for those who were used to being the “No. 1 dude” but are moving into a less-demanding role, said Patrick Sylvester, chief executive of Bannister International, a Philadelphia executive search firm.
As one gets older, networking continues to be one of “the top things you do,” said Gayle I. Weibley, an executive vice president at Right Management Consultants Inc. in Philadelphia. “You must set aside a couple of hours a week to keep yourself out there in the market.”
She also said future opportunities for aging workers are governed by “perception as opposed to what they can do.”
While corporate survival often means hoarding information and playing things close to the vest, older workers fare better when they learn how to mentor younger colleagues, Carney said.
Companies also have adjusting to do, according to Weibley, Carney and Sylvester. Many will need to change policies related to retirement, pension benefits and hours.
And they will need to create ways to retain older workers without holding back the advancement of younger workers eager for promotions.
Most companies, consumed by today’s problems, are not yet focused on what’s ahead, Sylvester said.
They are facing a “double whammy,” Carney said. The soon-to-retire Baby Boom generation had much higher-than-usual birth rates, and the generation entering the workforce had lower-than-average birth rates.
He said retaining older workers would help offset an acute shortage of people who can sell an idea to colleagues and customers, balance the need for profits with customer satisfaction, have credibility in their fields, and have a track record for getting things done.
Weibley agreed. “Somebody with silver hair who can manage those things will be worth their weight in gold,” she said.
More Top Picks Best Noise Reducing Earmuffs For Kids