Publisher’s Blog

Last week was the annual National Employ Older Workers Week. Numerous newspaper and blog articles were written on the topic. Many local organizations conducted older worker career fairs.

I wonder just how effective these are in the current economy.  But maybe, just maybe, this economy can be an opportunity for older workers.

A story I’ve told often. It was 1991 and my son Bryant graduated from Tufts University with an engineering degree. In the slow economy of that time, there were few jobs for new engineers.  And he had none.

One day, shortly thereafter, he called me while standing in line at a job fair in Boston.  His complaint to me was “I’ll never get a job here - most of the other job seekers in line were my (that’s me) age”. Needless to say it took me awhile to get my laughter under control. Read more »

It is on many peoples minds as they start moving towards retirement age, “Should I continue work?” I’m often asked by reporters doing articles on older workers “Do you see workers deferring retirement due to the current economic conditions?” My answer is consistently yes. Not only are workers continuing to work but many are returning to work after retirement. Besides economic there are many other reasons to continue or return to working.

Carleen Mackay has offered her version of 14 good reasons to return to work. First a little about Carleen. She has many credentials to her name. A few I’ll mention here. Carleen ’s web site is www.AgelessInAmerica.com She also publishes a bi -monthly newsletter “For the Mature Workforce”. She and Brad Taft are the co-publishers of the book, Boom or Bust, and their new book, Return of The Boomers, is now at the printers. Carleen is a sought after speaker and writer on issues of the mature work force from both the job seeker and employer views. The real good news is that Carleen has volunteered to be a guest writer on this blog. I’m excited to welcome Carleen to the team.

Following is the list of reasons to continue work:

1. You are programmed to live longer, much longer, than your parents lived.
In 1935 when Social Security benefits began, American men lived until 59 and women until 61. As you can see, few collected! Today’s numbers are 79 and 81. A difference of 20 years is a very long time to sit on your duff.

2. You are likely to suffer from nasty withdrawal if you abruptly leave the world of work.
A sudden change from full-time, demanding work to no work of any sort just may be your very worst option.

Read more »

I read a good number of the comments and inquiries that come into our customer service box from our older Job Seekers. There are definitely some themes and consistencies to what the over 50 job seekers are thinking about and dealing with.

This came in last week from a job seeker:

“I am frustrated that I cannot get a position that would capitalize on my marketing background,”… . “I am not doing what I am capable of doing and it is extremely fustrating.”

This is a very common frustration among older workers. Many have worked up through the ranks and their careers have either stalled or taken somewhat of a backward slide. They are capable of doing much more and they WANT to do much more. They WANT to work and work hard. There is no age limit on the desire to achieve.

My reaction is this. If you’re an employer, it would be silly not to recruit these experienced resources. Go forth and find an older overachiever! If you’re an older worker in a mid to upper level position, stay valuable, informed and up-to-date. Keep moving and let your commitment and achievements be known - constantly and subtly.

URETEK ICR Northern US is increasing its sales presence throughout our 27 state territory. Therefore opportunity exists for a few key individuals to open up new territories, create new opportunity and benefit from a generous commission plan.

We are seeking people who have successfully sold products and services associated with the construction industry.

To view the details of this job posting, click here.

Results of the latest Workforce50.com employer survey indicate that older workers may find greater satisfaction working for a smaller company of less than 50 employees rather than larger companies having more than 1000 employees.  It seems that smaller organizations not only value diversity in their ranks but they do actively recognize age as an element of diversity.  Interestingly, the perception that a company is age-friendly is very strong for the small companies responding, 86%, even though not all of these small companies recognize age as an element of diversity.  In May 2005, The Harris Poll reported  that employees of smaller companies, in general, have much more positive views about their jobs.

Small companies are more successful at retaining their older workers as well.  Eighty two percent of the small companies responding to our survey affirmed that they are successful at retaining their older employees as compared with only 60% of companies with more than 5000 employees.  Small companies, however, report only slightly more success at attracting and hiring 50+ workers.    Read more »