Over 55s: seeking skilled, paid work – which is useful, fulfilling and valued

A recent article in the New York Times featured the work of ReServe, an organisation I’ve come across before which merits ongoing attention.

ReServe is an innovative non-profit organisation that links people over 55 with meaningful second careers. ReServists are given responsibilities that allow them to use their skills, which doesn’t always happen with volunteering. Some ReServists use the same skills they always did – retired accountants, for example, are very popular; but most of the time, the ReServe career is something new. 

The pay is low – $10 an hour. But ReServe never uses the word volunteer; it’s work and the pay matters – on a number of levels. ReServe also requires organisations to pay because it ensures the work is valued.  

ReServe began in 2005, and now operates in Miami and Westchester in addition to New York City, with plans to develop elsewhere. According to the article, hundreds of retired professionals are currently on a waiting list to be matched with meaningful part-time jobs in schools, libraries, hospitals and other city agencies and nonprofits.

“The concept of retirement is fading,” said Mary S. Bleiberg, ReServe’s executive director.  “There is a steady increase in people over 65 going into or staying in the workforce.  People are realizing they’re going to be around a lot longer, and there’s a limited number of golf clubs they can swing.”

As a model for what is needed to address the nature of later life careers for a sector of the population ReServe appears to have much to offer. It is founded on the notion of skilled, paid work which at the same time is useful, fulfilling – and valued.

Intuitively one feels that enduring solutions for later life working will come from a proliferation of such initiatives rather than merely extending the timespan of existing career structures.

To access the article go to http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/in-a-second-career-working-to-make-a-difference/

NEST (Not Exactly Scintillating Topic)

This year sees the launch of the NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) pension scheme providing a route into pension saving that to date has been denied to many or not pursued by many. We wish it well and hope that individuals do really see the benefit of saving for their later life whether that will truly be retirement or will be some mixture of work and supplementary income provided by a pension.

As part of the preparation phase NEST has commissioned a survey from YouGov covering people’s understanding/attitude towards pensions with the following rather predictable findings. Only 6 per cent of people interviewed think pensions are ‘straightforward’. Only 4 per cent believe pensions are ‘easy to understand’ and just 3 per cent agree that pensions are ‘simple’. In addition, only 5 per cent of respondents found pensions ‘interesting’ and 2 per cent agreed they are ‘engaging’ (who are these people?). The words people more strongly associate with pensions are ‘confusing’, ‘complicated’ ‘boring’, ‘difficult’ and ‘off-putting’.

NEST will be competing with many other pension providers in trying to convince individuals that pensions and, in particular, saving through NEST is in their best interests. And even if people had the spare cash to save, bad publicity regarding low investment returns, plus high fees and administration costs have made savers highly sceptical.

Nor is the only way to save for later years through pensions alone. There are other ways, for example investing in property and then downsizing later or releasing equity. These have their pros and cons and also their problems, as a recent Which? survey has revealed.

The point is that the vast majority of the population has a long, long way to go to become sufficiently adept and confident in financial matters of any kind but, in particular, saving for retirement.

There will also continue to be a major problem as long as products are pushed by those with particular vested interests, “bigging up” the merits of their offering while failing to give people a detached, dispassionate and objective real understanding of the issues.

No number of whizzy phrasebooks or self-indulgent videos will remedy this.

How witty is WEARY?

Well, not very if you fall into the group to which it refers. This latest acronym is the brain-child of the Future Foundation who, in a recent research report for Friends Life, coined it to refer to “Working, Entrepreneurial and Active Retirees”.

This phrase in itself actually sounds quite inspiring (despite the oxymoron about working and being retired) – working, active and entrepreneurial, the essence of what we know today’s older people to be. But weary? Not a bit of it!

No doubt whoever came up with this didn’t actually think through the damage that such witticisms inflict on older people struggling to overturn ageist stereotypes in the workplace and society in general. It isn’t helpful at all to have this broadcast in the mass media associated with a story which, in many ways, is actually quite positive.

Yes, many older people are going to work longer. But as Max Davidson explains in the Telegraph this can be a benefit. As he says, “work, however humdrum, is what makes leisure palatable. It is the contrast between the two – the labouring in the vineyard followed by the glass of wine at the end of the day – that gives shape and meaning to our lives.”

So are older workers weary? The active and entrepreneurial, no. We’re not weary – just really, really irritated.

For the Telegraph article see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/9002593/Give-me-a-Weary-old-age-over-a-stultifying-sun-lounger-any-day.html

What motivates retirement?

“Many older people retire out of despair, not out of desire”. I was struck by the poignancy (and accuracy) of this statement which is a comment on the position of older workers taken from a recent press release from National Seniors, Australia’s consumer lobby for the over-50s.

The release relates to National Seniors’ recent report, Stereotype Threat and Mature Age Workers which reveals that many older workers’ perceived belief that they’re the target of demeaning stereotypes such as frailty, inflexibility and a fear of technology is pushing them towards premature retirement.

The report revealed that 56% of those surveyed suffer medium to high levels of what they term “stereotype threat”, with a further 42% experiencing low stereotype threat.

The experience of stereotype threat was linked with negative workplace attitudes and behaviours on the part of older workers including: lower job satisfaction; lower emotional commitment to the organisation; lower job involvement; higher retirement intentions; and greater intentions to quit.

Personal comments about this situation from older workers included several more which struck a chord, including:

“I sometimes feel that I am invisible because of my age. I have difficulty at times with getting people to include me and listen to me.”

“I’m constantly overlooked in favour of younger people, I’m starting to think I’m hopeless and useless.”

The report calls for more positive older role models, stronger anti-discrimination policies, increased training opportunities and greater recognition of mature age staff. Once again this is not UK research, but it resonates with the position of many older workers here.

You can access the press release at:

http://www.productiveageing.com.au/userfiles/file/Stereotype%20threat%20-%20Press%20Release.pdf

Older workers – needed soon?

Are employers in danger of throwing out the baby (boomers) with the bathwater?

A recent (2010) report from Civic Ventures (which I’ve only just come across) seems to suggest that they may be. The report, “After the Recovery: Help Needed – The Coming Labor Shortage and How People in Encore Careers Can Help Solve It” suggests that in a comparatively short period of time employers will be having to consider how to make work attractive to older people in order to overcome skills shortages.

Its core premise is that by 2018, with no change in current labor force participation rates or immigration rates and an expected return to healthy economic growth, the US will have more jobs than people to fill them.

The report states, “In the current economy, there are so many unemployed people that younger workers seem to be competing with older workers for available jobs. If the economy recovers, as employment projections predict it will, this competition will all but disappear. Instead of workers jockeying for jobs… we may find that employers are forced to find ways to enhance their jobs to attract older workers to fill them.”

It continues: “Not only will there be jobs for these experienced workers to fill, but the nation will absolutely need older workers to step up and take them – to assure continued economic growth and to provide the critical social and government services on which we all depend.”

The report makes interesting reading in that if its predictions are realised, those in their fifties and early sixties who are currently being cast aside soon may be being courted back into work. Of course, this scenario is underpinned by lots of ifs and buts – not least of which is how quickly there will be an economic recovery and how closely the UK will follow the US model.

But, at the very least, it reminds us of the underlying reality of demographically driven skills shortages – all too easy to forget in these economically difficult times.

Access the report at: http://www.encore.org/files/research/JobsBluestonePaper3-5-10.pdf

 

 

6.1 million over 50s set to work past retirement age

According to retirement specialist LV=’s newly released Working Late Index, 28% of working over-50’s are planning on average to work past state retirement age for an extra six years, which based on today’s retirement age would see them retiring at age 71 for men and 66 for women. One in five over-50s (19%) said they expect to work for at least a decade past the current state retirement age.

Two thirds of those ‘working later’ apparently will do so because they can’t afford to retire.

The report goes on to state that one in five over-50s – equivalent to 4.3 million people – who had retired have since gone back into work. Of those who have gone back into work: 

• 11% returned in a part-time capacity, 6% into voluntary (unpaid) work and 3% back full-time
• 37% went back to work because they felt they were too young to retire
• 32% missed being part of the working environment
• For 30% it was financially-related: 20% said it was a necessity as their personal and/or state pension wasn’t enough to support them in their retirement, and one in ten (10%) needed to go back to work to help continue financially supporting their family

However, going back into employment after retirement has given some over-50s an opportunity to fulfil other ambitions. A fifth (19%) made a complete career change and 12% set up their own business. Many have chosen to go back to work in a role that requires fewer hours than before (27%), and 18% are doing a job that is less stressful than their previous job.

In terms of these findings this is an interesting study. However LV’s use of the phrase “state retirement age” isn’t helpful in a society in which we have now abolished mandatory retirement. Obviously they mean state pension age as they say “as the state retirement age increases to age 65 years for women in 2018, and to 66 for men and women in 2020”.

This wouldn’t matter except that it seems clear that the sooner we decouple the concept of retirement from that of drawing a pension the more helpful this will be for people in terms of understanding the options open to them in later life.

Older learners – a new source of revenue for UK universities?

If it is to be believed that where the US goes, the UK will follow, academic governors ought to be paying heed to a recent article published in the US.

It suggests that many retirees are settling in towns that boast major universities. One survey of people 55 to 75 years of age found that more than half had a favourable view of retiring to a university town, and that in response a large number of campus communities have put out the welcome mat.

Retirees are attracted by the chance to take courses, find volunteer work at the universities, and enjoy the cultural activities that are part of the academic scene.

In the UK increasing numbers of older people are participating in the Open University and the University of the Third Age as well as enrolling in degree courses at mainstream universities. The question of the extent to which specific “third age” programmes should be designed for older people is open to debate but certainly a more positive drive to openly recruit more mature+ students could be a profitable move.

To see the full story:

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/senior-citizens-attracted-to-campus-settings-1259893.html

Well enough to work?

An interesting session was hosted in London on Tuesday by the International Longevity Centre (ILC): Older workers, health and employment. While nothing overwhelmingly new came out of it, the keynote speech by Dame Carol Black in particular on trends in the health of older workers nevertheless created an impact.

Although, as she pointed out, one in four of us born today can expect to live to 100, the factors mitigating that in terms of our own poor health are startling. As the fourth fattest nation in the world we are facing a situation where 40% of all UK adults will be obese by 2025 and three quarters of the population will be too ill to work to the projected retirement age of 68.

Her presentation clearly underlined Abraham Lincoln’s point that “It’s not the years in your life that count but the life in your years”. The spectre of so many of us living longer in ill health and disability is an appalling prospect at every level – individual, societal and economic – and tantamount to a total disaster.

In the main the session focused on what employers can or could do to help the situation through health and wellbeing programmes and what these might encompass. Little mention was given of individual responsibility and how, rather ironically in light of this topic, you can lead a horse to water…

Realistically lack of knowledge about lifestyle habits and their effects generally isn’t the problem, and neither is lack of employer support. What is the problem is lack of motivation, good role models and a realistic understanding of the consequences of our actions (or inaction).

If those of us “in the know” in the ageing arena can be startled by such figures, surely a well-produced TV documentary series would have considerable impact on the man (and woman) in the street?

Facing the future over 50

A one-day workshop  for anyone aged around 50 who is seeking  greater clarity about what they want from life and enhanced motivation around how to get it.

Being over 50 is one of the very best times of life. Many of the struggles of youth are behind us but with the likelihood of decades of life still ahead of us we still have time to realise our full potential and achieve our remaining dreams.

The choices surrounding what to do with the rest of our life are limitless. Yet age provides us with the wisdom to know that having choices means making changes – and change can be  both exhilarating and challenging.

This workshop has been designed to help you rethink the rest of your life. Using our unique development model, we help you identify and prioritise which areas you want or need to change, why you want to change, and what might be the outcome.

Saturday 28 January 2012 9.30 am to 5.00 pm

Room 354, Malet Street Building, Birkbeck College, University of London, London WC1E 7HX

 

For details click here

Working longer but working differently

A recent article by Alicia Munnell, Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College in the US highlights that not only are older workers working longer but they are increasingly moving from one job to another. For example in 1983, the average tenure of men aged 55-64 was 15.3 years; by 2008 it had declined to 10.1 years (figures relate to 2008 rather than 2010 to separate long-term trends from the effects of the recession). Although tenure was down across the board, it was most pronounced amongst older workers.

The article continues:      

“An even more direct way to show the decline in career employment is to see how many work­ers toward the end of their careers are still with the employer they had at age 50.  In 1983, 63% of men 58-62 were with their age-50 employer; by 2008, that figure had dropped to 47%. Although career employment is more common among workers with more education the shift away from career employment was consistent across educational groups.”

The question, of course, is whether the increased mobility is voluntary or enforced to which the answer is “we don’t know”. 

“On the one hand, data on displacement rates, which report layoffs for reasons other than job performance, have not increased for older workers.  These data would suggest that separations of older workers are largely due to quits, not layoffs.  The distinction between layoffs and quits, however, is not always clear.  Employers can reduce a worker’s compensation or increase job demands.  Workers could also feel insecure in their current job, due to technological change or increased competition, especially from overseas.  If workers quit in response to such pressures, they would be leaving on their own volition, but the decline of career employment could not be characterized as a positive development.”

In respect of whether increased mobility of older workers is helpful or harmful to working longer the picture is similarly cloudy.

“The new jobs generally pay less and are less likely to offer pension and health insurance coverage. This fall in wages and benefits makes continued employment less attractive vis-à-vis retirement.  On the other hand, workers who shift jobs often report less stress and an increase in job satisfaction that makes work more attractive vis-à-vis retirement.  The fall in wages and benefits also reduces household wealth, and this “wealth effect” also encourages con­tinued employment.  How workers respond depends on the strength of these various effects.”

The article bears out my own research that older people want to work longer but not just by doing more of the same. It also highlights some of the complexities in terms of factors affecting objective and subjective work and career motivation in later life.

In light of the current focus in the UK around the abolition of the default retirement age, this interesting insight into what later life working actually looks like – or is going to look like –  is invaluable. To the best of my knowledge we don’t have similar information available for the UK; it would be good to hear about it if anyone knows differently.

To read the full article go to: http://blogs.smartmoney.com/encore/2011/08/15/are-older-workers-job-hopping-more/

Things in life that just don’t add up – no. 619

As we all face the likelihood of living longer we are exhorted to adopt a healthy lifestyle in order to ensure that any extra years of life can be enjoyed in good health while reducing the burden on state care. Employers too are encouraged to offer health and wellness programmes for all.

However in direct opposition to this is the fact that large numbers of retired people are entitled to a higher income in their retirement if they have underlying health conditions which would qualify them for an enhanced annuity.  Qualifying conditions for an enhanced annuity include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes – all of which are, to some extent, preventable, lifestyle-related ailments.

A new press release issued by MGM Advantage, a specialist in retirement income, contains the following comment from their Sales and Marketing Director: “It is an unfortunate fact of life that as we get older, we are more at risk of getting underlying health conditions. Those buying an annuity should have a health check and be sure to inform their annuity provider of any health conditions to see if they qualify for an enhanced annuity. The difference between a standard and an enhanced annuity can be significant and would make a real difference, particularly when the cost of living is squeezing finances.”

So sod the salad and gym. Hunker down in front of the TV and have another pint and pie…

 

 

Reluctance to employ older workers – fear of the unknown or the known?

Undoubtedly amongst all the issues relating to extended working life and age management the problem of the unemployed older person is the most challenging and frustrating at an individual level.   While unemployment for anyone is a tragedy, the plight of the older unemployed who were once – quite recently – not only employable but capable of holding highly skilled, powerful and influential roles is heartbreaking and disturbing.  In the job market they typically cannot even get an acknowledgement of their application for a post, let alone an interview.

Coaching, counselling, and even physical makeovers can all help improve an individual’s chances but ultimately nothing can be done to remove the elephant in the room – age – that is the barrier to their employment.

I have yet to meet an employer – whether a business owner, HR professional or individual manager – who is prepared to admit that they are reluctant to employ older people. And I am unlikely to.  After all, such an admission would amount to age discrimination and, what’s more it is easy to concede that there is little wrong with older people in principle.

So where is the sticking point?  Is it fear of the unknown i.e. employers are happy with the older workers they already have – whose strengths, weaknesses and work proclivities they know, but don’t want to risk any unknown quantities in terms of older workers who may have issues? Or is their reluctance based on perceptions of their past and current older employees who they certainly wouldn’t want any more of, thank you very much?

Would knowing the answer make any difference?  Probably not.  But it might help individual older job seekers if they could be convinced that really and truly it had very little to do at a personal level with them.