Barbara Quirk: How to keep older workers on the job

Barbara Quirk  —  11/05/2008 1:48 pm

"Well, I guess I'm going to have to work until I'm 90."

My "baby" sister, who is single and nearing retirement age, was lamenting over her fate, having just hung up from talking with her financial adviser. Sue, a nurse manager at a large clinic in Chicago, has never, in her adult life, been without a good job, although nursing in general has never been known for its high wages. Sue also never met a dime she didn't want to spend, especially on others. However, for all of her "Auntie Mame" tendencies, she has consistently saved and invested for her retirement.

Sue is among millions of cohorts caught in the center of the most volatile financial uproar in our lifetimes, a threat to all retirement dreams and plans. It seems "working class" people in America are jittery about their security and are rethinking their schedules to leave the work force. Unfortunately, for many such as the autoworkers in Janesville and elsewhere, they have no choice and are facing unemployment far sooner than they had planned. God only knows what these individuals are facing with families to feed and mortgages and rent to pay.

My, the times they are a changing. As recently as six months ago, AARP was completing a survey of 1,500 older workers, ages 45 to 74, who were currently working or looking for work. The complete study, "Staying Ahead of the Curve 2007: The AARP Work and Career Study," is available here. Keep in mind that this survey was done before the current economic slowdown, and the author cautions that responses might be different today, especially those concerning job security, age discrimination and motivations to work.

This study examines what it means to U.S. business to have an aging work force and speculates that time is running out to prevent labor shortages, talent wars and knowledge loss. According to the study, "Between 2006 and 2016, the age 55-plus work force will grow five times faster than the overall labor force. If the massive baby boom generation retires at historic rates, companies may scramble to find enough qualified younger workers to fill the empty slots."

The study refers to this as "a perfect demographic storm" that threatens to roil the waters of the U.S. economy and compromise the productivity and success of U.S. businesses.

What was yesterday's troubling news is today's truth. Workers 45 to 74 want to stay on the job — as long as businesses and policymakers address their wants and needs. The survey says its data will help policymakers and businesses understand the vast talent pool and develop strategies to recruit, retrain and manage those workers. Seven in 10 seasoned workers plan to work in their "golden years." Truth today is that they very well may have to in order to survive.

One of the areas measured by this AARP survey has to do with job confidence. About 8 in 10 respondents say it is unlikely their job will be eliminated within the next year. Remember that was then, when the economic picture was much rosier.

Older workers in the survey say they want to work for three main reasons. First, they have current financial needs, including income to support a family, pay for health care and maintain health insurance. Older workers also feel that work gives them social and psychological fulfillment — they feel useful and productive. Finally, they want to work for future financial security, to fulfill pension requirements, and to qualify for Social Security.

What once seemed to be an option now seems like a necessity and one that is not guaranteed.

For people like my sister Sue, industry would be wise to offer a part-time job as a mentor for newly hatched nurse managers, who could rise to the top of their productivity quickly under her aegis. She and others with years of professional experience have so much to offer. When surveyed, they say that they would stay if they had a job that makes use of their skills and talents. They want a friendly work environment and a chance to do something worthwhile.

Serial careers do not take the president of a bank or a nurse manager and turn them into Wal-Mart greeters.

Barbara Quirk is a Madison geriatric nurse practitioner.

Barbara Quirk  —  11/05/2008 1:48 pm