Take a good look at who is driving US Postal Service trucks these days and you'll be pleasantly surprised. When push comes to shove you can always count on Boomers and 50 Plussers to deliver your mail..."Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
One of the many hats I wear includes answering career questions as an expert on AllExperts.com. I recently got a very interesting query on making a total switch which brings up a whole world of possibility.
Question:
Hello Janet,
I have been working in IT industry since last 3 and half years. However, now I don't feel anymore interested in this field. Can you please suggest if there are any other non-IT field jobs which I can get qualified for and still use my 3 years of experience. I know this is very little information for you to answer my question but please feel free if you need any more information about my job profile? Please help... M.
My answer:
Hi M,
It is always challenging to switch tracks because employers have trouble seeing how your skill sets can translate to new areas. However, employers are having trouble themselves with staffing and recruiting, so figuring out how to reposition yourself will be critical in making the switch. There is a world of opportunity, so to get started, you need to identify what types of jobs seem appealing to you and then it becomes easier to figure out the crossover. For example, a background in IT might help you get into an entry level position in recruiting, where the company uses a complicated job/applicant tracker program. Or you might find a smaller company with a chain of 5-10 retail outlets that have transitioned over to a POS program (Point of Sale)and would like to have someone on board who can make use of all the bells and whistles that come with the system (like pulling customer lists for marketing campaigns, analyzing customer quarterly purchases, inventory management, etc.) Feel free to send me more info on what appeals to you and I'll bet we can come up with a slew of ideas for you to get cracking on!
Best regards,
Janet Wendy Spiegel
www.genplususa.com
http://genplus.blogspot.com
If you have other thoughts, feel free to share. I'm curious what your perspective might be!
I recently started a dog walking/pet sitting service in Los Angeles (www.poochbuddies.com) and the business is rapidly expanding. When I started this new line of business, I decided that when I started hiring, in support of all the Boomers and 50 plussers who can't find work, I would specifically look to hire...Boomers and 50+ers!
Now I'm looking for dog walkers and I'd love to be able to help OUR demographic! So, if you are interested in finding out about becoming a dog walker in the San Fernando Valley (from Thousand Oaks to Studio City), sign up for free at Gen Plus (www.genplususa.com), search for Pooch Buddies in the job listings and apply online, or send me an email indicating your interest, along with your resume (info@poochbuddies.com) and your experience with animals.
If you are interested in starting a Pooch Buddies affiliate program in your neighborhood, let me know!
The economy (as evidenced by the news over the past several months) is doing more than slowing down. It is roaring to a screeching halt...and right where it will hurt the middle class. If you think of who really supports the economy, it is the small business. Although the mega-conglommerates take in so much of the money up for grabs, small business is the army of ants that build, work, and continue, to support the country.
This year is going to hit small business really hard because of trickle down effect. With so many super-companies shutting so many doors (see my article on retail closures) let's look, for a second at a detail on impact. Let's take Ann Taylor. They are closing 117 stores. That is 117 store managers and assistant managers that fit into the definition of the middle class. In one store, the one manager will now be unemployed for, let's say 4 - 6 months which is a reasonable average in today's market. She (most Ann Taylor store managers will likely be female) has to support herself and there is a 50% chance that she is divorced and may also be a single mother. If she had a health plan, she'll now have to pay COBRA in order to keep her plan, but let's assume, she can't come up with the $500-$900/month it may cost to keep the plan. She'll let it lapse and will join the ranks of the uninsured. Her focus will be on paying the rent, for her car (or not), food, and the care of her children.
Will she go to her dentist for her routine cleaning? Likely not. Will she switch from her hair stylist to a less expensive walk-in chain? Or grow her hair long? Likely. Make her own meals rather than dine out? Yup. Avoid paying for expensive movies in the theaters? Yup. Cut off her cable? Possibly. Switch off the cell or landline and only have one phone? Probably.
And that is just the start. Now let's move on to the dentist. The dentist relies on teeth cleaning for business retention so that when a cavity or cracked tooth crops up, you go to the dentist who has been cleaning your teeth for years. Out of the 117 Ann Taylor stores, with only 2 managers at each, that is about 234 teeth cleanings that will likely not happen. If a woman gets her hair cut every six weeks, then over 6 months, that would be just under 1200 haircuts lost. The dentists will lose over $20,000 just from those 117 stores. And the stylists...about $280,000. (If you are an economist, you'll likely argue my figures...but this is just for illustration purposes.)
So what am I going to keep my eyes on in the next six months? The dental industry, and the beauty industry. How will dental hygenists do in terms of finding work upon graduation in 6 months? What about cosmetologists (hair stylists)? Will more dental offices open or close? How many new hair salons will open? How many will close their doors?
If I were looking for a job right now, where would I look? In recession proof areas -- services and products that people cannot live without. And I wouldn't be looking at the market today, but trying to project what that trickle-down affect will impact 6 months or a year from today.
Primary, schmimary (I'm a Clinton fan, so I really should say "yay", but it spoils the opening).
Back to the topic. Where are the jobs? Well, here is some good news. Some of you have been looking for work opportunities in Pennsylvania. Say welcome to a new Gen Plus employer: Development Dimensions International. If you live in or near Bridgeville, PA, then head over to Gen Plus and get your resume in to DDI. This job won't last long. If you apply for the job, make sure that you flag your resume as coming from Gen Plus so you don't get lost in the shuffle.
Amy Zuckerman (my co-developer of the virtual business and career survey running on Eons.com) has just passed along her breaking press release -- and you're reading it here first. (If you scroll down, down, down, you'll find yours truly quoted -- always getting a word in on behalf of the 50 plusser jobseeker!)
VIRTUAL WORKFORCE AND CAREER EXPERTS URGE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO FOCUS ON BOOMER CAREER RETIREMENT ISSUES
Warn of an "Avalanche of Need" that Could Sweep the U.S. For Financially Strapped Boomers
Burke, Va. - Jan. 24, 2008 -- With the U.S. and global economy gyrating, national experts in career transition and the virtual, home-based workplace are urging all presidential candidates to place the needs of retiring boomers among their top priorities, particularly in regard to career retraining, small-business development and management support where there is evidence of growing demand for assistance.
Don Wilson, president and CEO of the Association of Small Business Development Center Network (ASBDC), representing 1,000 service centers nationwide that provide no-cost consulting and low-cost training to half a million small businesses annually, says he is grateful for this year's $10 million increase to ASBDC's budget. However, he points out that the amount is a drop in the bucket compared to demand his centers are starting to experience from retiring boomers seeking help starting or growing small enterprises to augment their incomes during retirement.
"The candidates are talking about education and here we are offering education for businesses," said Wilson, adding that the ASBDC was level-funded from 2000 until 2007. Despite the recent budget increase, he said in today's dollars ASBDC needs at least $115 million "to have the same buying power as we did in 2001. We actually served fewer counseling clients at a national level in 2006 (no numbers were available for 2007), which was down from 2005," and this is despite the fact that the first wave of boomers hit retirement age in 2007.
"For the past five or six years, we've been seeing an increasing number of older Americans coming in. As they reach retirement age, they want part-time work, or they say they want to start a home-based virtual business, a small manufacturing, or retail brick and mortar business," explained Wilson. Many have broad experience or great skill sets, "but need business management knowledge," he said, adding that "this does not come automatically."
By virtual business, Wilson is referring to a small business that relies on advanced technology to operate, whether from a home, a rental office or elsewhere.
Georgianna Parkin, vice-chair of ASBDC's board of directors and state director for the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (SBDC), is also witnessing "a continual increase each year among boomers who want to start a business. Some expand from hobbies, some for social reasons and others due to a perceived need in the market."
When asked if SBDC funding was adequate to meet projected boomer career or business counseling needs nationally, Parkin said "absolutely not." She pointed out that it was "critical to keep these boomers employed and active contributors to the economic base. Otherwise, we could have a population in debt, as well as ignoring the tremendous talent this population possesses."
Those serving boomers on websites and in private practices are equally concerned, particularly given the many boomers who are purported to be in debt. Amy Zuckerman, an award-winning author and consultant based in Amherst, Mass. who was recently profiled on CNN.com (12/17/07), warns candidates of an "avalanche of boomer need" that is about to sweep the country. Through the many blogs and groups she manages on boomer social networking sites such as EONS.com, Multiply, and TeeBeeDee.com, she is encountering many older boomers struggling to survive on Social Security and dwindling revenue.
"With boomers starting to retire in 2007 and many in debt, I am deeply concerned about the future. While the media and candidates are focusing a great deal on health care, which is positive, they are missing the enormous need for career retraining, as well assistance to the millions of boomers who are telling pollsters they intend to start their own businesses during retirement," said Zuckerman who also writes the blog: "Living a Virtual American Dream" (http//:www.virtualdream.amyz-blogspot.com).
She points to new data from a pilot Virtual Business and Careers survey currently housed on her EONS.com "Building a Virtual Company" group page (URL below). Preliminary findings, based on a sampling of EONS members, indicate that 77 percent of EONS respondents plan to operate a small, home-based business during their retirement years.
(The survey can be found at http://www.eons.com/survey/welcome/10.)
Although numbers from mid-December to the first week in January were based on a sample of only 170, they correlate with earlier polls by Yahoo.com and MassInc's Commonwealth Magazine, as well as anecdotal reporting from Newsweek's "Boomer Files." All of these regional and national sources have indicated that a majority of boomers - between 60 and 75 percent - plan to run home-based, virtual companies of various types when they are in retirement.
"The problem for many boomers, particularly those who have always worked for an employer, is that they don't have a clue about how to make money outside of a full-time job," said Zuckerman, who was the Small Business Administration's 2005 Home-Based Business Champion for New England and Massachusetts. "They don't know how to manage their time, manage technology, or market themselves. And many are falling prey to scam artists promising them a solid income from web-based schemes."
Zuckerman says she is pleased to see a new bill - The Parents' Tax Relief Act of 2007 - including tax incentives for those working at home. However, she points out that polls she has conducted with the members of Hidden-Tech (www.hidden-tech.net), an organization she founded in 2002, and from interviews nationwide, indicate that many boomers and others are operating virtual enterprises outside the home. "I'm concerned that that this bill will not assist many in the burgeoning virtual economy who do not operate strictly from their homes," she explained.
"The government," Zuckerman said, "needs to drastically beef up funding for boomer retraining through the ASBDC's small business development centers, as well as the SCORE program. And Congress needs to redraft the U.S. Census to gather data on the virtual economy, as a whole, and not focus solely on home-based companies."
Wendy Spiegel, founder of GEN PLUS (tm) - Reinventing 50 Plus (www.genplususa.com) in the Los Angeles area, cautions that "over the past several years of receiving e-mails from mature workers desperate for employment, it is clear that we are still five years or more away from large numbers of employers being truly willing to hire-or recruit for-a 50 plusser." Spiegel, who authors the popular Gen Plus blog (http://genplus.blogspot.com) and, like Zuckerman, has been an expert blogger on EONS.com, collaborated with Zuckerman in developing the survey that appears on the EONS.com site.
She believes that "as a result of the employment challenges and lack of financial security facing the mature worker, more and more jobseekers are going to have to find alternative ways to make a living. Multi-channel careering is going to become the new boomer trend, and that includes a significant increase in virtual industry, flex jobs, telecommuting, and virtual contact center positions."
On the flip side of the job coin, businesses will be "facing a massive talent shortage as all these boomers move out of full-time employment," said Charlie Grantham, co-founder of Work Design Collaborative and the Future of Work program with bases in California and Prescott, Ariz. "Companies will have to turn to the boomers as a part-time labor force," he said, "but the boomers won't be willing to commute to central-city corporate offices. We're going to have to learn how to manage a widely distributed work force whose members have a very different set of values and expectations about how, when, and where they work."
"We need a ton of new public policies to deal with this massive transformation in the workforce," argued Jim Ware, co-founder with Grantham of the Work Design Collaborative and the Future of Work program. "Work force development programs will have to include post-65ers, and we should be rethinking Social Security, health care, and 401K programs to be sure they meet the needs of both employers and all these 'free-agent' seniors," he says.
#1 -- Login to your Gen Plus account http://genplususa.com/login.aspx
#2 -- Search for jobs and look for keyword "NASA"
#3 -- Apply to the coolest job opportunity for all -- INCLUDING Boomers, 50 Plussers and retirees...
Huh? That's right. Our good friends at Kelly Services have passed along a spectacular opportunity and I'm spreading the word. Here is the job posting:
NASA (yes, that NASA, the National Association of Space and Aeronautics) is looking for a few good people for an amazing job opportunity! Are you up to the challenge? Kelly Services®, in partnership with NASA Space Camp®, is now recruiting camp counselors! This is a long-term opportunity to work on the NASA campus and be a part of Space Camp, Space Academy®, and the Aviation Challenge®.What you’ll need to apply:
Kelly Services has been listing a few jobs on the Gen Plus career board in order to bring some of their postings to the 50 plus jobseeker. This is a pilot program that will only work if you are actively applying for the positions.
As a 50 plusser, there are two big, big challenges in the marketplace right now.
1) Employers are not jumping up and down seeking 50 plussers to fill vacant positions -- even if they are vacant for a period of time
2) 50 Plussers are afraid to be pegged as older than 50 for fears of not getting a foot in the door.
Where Kelly Services is a champion is that they have, literally, hundreds and thousands of positions to fill every day and they are looking for you -- the 50 plus worker. Some of the positions are temporary placements, some are temp to permanent, and some are permanent placement. From my personal experience (yes, I was a Kelly Girl back in the 80's), there is a great opportunity to gain permanent placement by starting in a temporary position and catching the eye of your employer because of your great attitude and work ethic. Just to give you an idea, Kelly puts a new employee to work every 30 seconds and every three minutes, a Kelly employee is hired permanently by a customer. That is a solid track record.
So, if you are seeking work, please send your resume in through one of the Kelly Services listings posted on the Gen Plus site (www.genplususa.com/work.aspx). If your application goes into the wrong geographic location, the recruiter will forward it to the correct recruitment office. The role of a placement agency is to fill open positions, so in order to be seen, that means you must apply -- for every open position you may qualify for. These recruiters are looking for you -- every application you send in through Gen Plus is coded specifically so that you will not just drop into the pool of all other candidates.
I'm not seeing enough of you take advantage of this great opportunity, so if you are serious about finding employment, please make sure to submit your resume to the posted positions so that you can be flagged for a Kelly recruiter. (You will not get flagged as Gen Plus through Kelly's direct website...you need to go through the Gen Plus job postings.)
I'd love to see this pilot program grow into something bigger so that you have access to job openings across the country, but you'll need to do your part, too, and apply to posted positions.
An interesting article by CNN writer, Anthony Balderrama, which shares some insights into how Gen Y is affecting employment practices caught my eye today, particularly in light of my post earlier this week on multi-generational workspaces.
A significant number of employers are looking at ways to attract and retain the always-on-the-move Gen Yers demanding higher salaries, work/life balance, job flexibility and top tier technology. The overall technological savvy of this generation is too compelling for employers to ignore. According to a recent Careerbuilder survey:
Fifteen percent of employers reported modifying their policies in order to
appease their Gen Y employees. Of those employers who made changes, 57 percent
implemented more flexible work schedules and 33 percent created new recognition
programs.
From what I can see, we are still a good five years away from employers realizing that they have a lot of transient talent, but little longevity, and even less in dependability, general management or supervisory skill sets. I'm looking for a hint of another 15% of employers who decide to aggressively and proactively target 50 plussers specifically for those experience-heavy requirements.
I've got the 7 year itch...that's right...I'm 48 1/2...turning 49 within a few short months. That is an exponential "7". 7 squared. 7 x 7. Am I going to buy a new car? Yup. Try to get into better shape? Yup. Make some exponential changes in my life this year? Yup.
I don't know what it is about 7. This past summer, on July 7, 2007 (7/7/7) more people chose to get married than on any other day in recorded history (on a Saturday, the seventh day of the week and many tried for 7:00 pm.) Lucky 7, tripled -- or even quadrupled!
So, this year, in July, I turn 7 x 7. One year away from the big 5-0 (which I am already celebrating in my advocacy of all things 50 plus).
The big question is where is the itch going to take me? Am I going to uproot myself and family and head to a new city for new adventures? Travel to China, finally? I'm not sure, but I feel the wave.
My most compelling itch lies in my desire and need to give back -- in my case, continuing my social efforts on behalf of Gen Plussers (Boomers and 50 plussers) and their need to find meaningful employment opportunities.
And it turns out I'm not so unusual. A colleague passed along an article that was in last week's Business Week, by Toddi Gunther, an interview with Marc Freedman's efforts through think tank Civic Ventures.
My take-away from the article was that, in Freedman's view, Boomers and 50 plussers are determined to continue to find meaning through their social philanthropy -- i.e. giving back to the community -- whether through the type of work they choose to do, the organizations they are involved in, the continued education they take onboard. Freedman has coined the term "encore" careers, which really means the jobs you take on in your continued stages of career choice/development/necessity (!)
How do you define an encore career?This resonates with me is because of the efforts (and strides) Gen Plus has been making in connecting the 50-plus friendly employer with the 50 -plus jobseeker. One case in point is our new and very exciting collaboration with Kelly Services (head to our work site for more details or sign up as a jobseeker to look up the job postings!) Not only is Kelly Educational Services focusing in on substitute teaching positions as a viable option for transition or permanent career choices, but according to their Senior Recruiting Specialist:
It's when someone can earn income, find new meaning, and use accumulated experience in ways that have a positive impact on society. At the same time, encore careers fill a set of talent shortages that threaten to compromise our education and health-care systems. They represent the best use of the accumulated experience of the baby-boomer population.
Why do you use the term only in the context of
give-back jobs?
We know from surveys that a significant percentage of boomers is already thinking about working in an area of the social sector. Our challenge is to take all of those people and get them jobs.
We see many mature workers come to us because they want to feel that they are giving back and teaching fulfills that.
I was listening to a snippet of Al Gore's acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. His efforts on advocating for green actions to reduce and/or adapt to global warming are quite exceptional. A few things struck me.
There is a connection here. I've got my antennae up.
The always fascinating Baby Boomer Chronicles is this week's host to the Blogging Boomers Carnival -- chock full of interesting, insightful and sometimes insufferable boomer insights of the week!
And on a side note spaces are filling for the Gen Plus Town Hall in LA on January 22nd -- if you aren't working, looking to change your job/career, or just looking for a meaningful strategy for the next decade, we'd love to have you join us. Click on the link for more info on this free event.
Due to some of the media excitement over Gen Plus in the past week, traffic has been very busy on both this blog and the Gen Plus job board. Our good friends at Kelly Services are also busy getting up job postings from across the country, like this one, with hopes of making some good matches with our 50 plus jobseekers.
If you have not yet signed up for your free membership, head on over to the login page and get your resume posted.
If you are an employer, please sign up for YOUR free membership and get your jobs posted asap. We've got lots of hungry, dedicated 50 plussers looking to work for you.
Tom Lauricella has done it and done it right. He won my heart. The intrepid Wall Street Journal writer interviewed me last week, along with several of the Gen Plus jobseekers (some from my group on Eons) and has written a terrific article, entitled, "How Old Are You? As Old As Your Skills" focusing on the challenges of 50 plus jobseekers looking to secure employment in the face of ageism. (Of course it delights me to be included in the article, too!)
You can click on the link or just read on for the full article. And, by the way, women are notorious for NOT reading the Wall Street Journal, but if you are a man or a woman seeking employment, OR and employer trying to understand what the heck is going on in the US and around the world, following the news in WSJ is a must.
How Old Are You? As Old as Your Skills.
By TOM LAURICELLA
September 16, 2007
Looking for a job is rarely an easy task. Sending out résumé after résumé and grappling with uncertainty and rejection can be a frustrating experience. Older workers, in particular, can encounter age discrimination, even if it's not explicit.
But there are ways to handle this challenge, including thinking differently about how a résumé is prepared -- and simply being prepared for the question, "How old are you?" Plenty of resources -- some free, some for a minimal cost -- are designed specifically for older job hunters.
There is evidence that bias against older adults in the job market, while difficult to prove, does exist. The average hunt for employment took nearly seven weeks longer for job seekers age 55 and older than for individuals younger than 55, according to a 2005 AARP report. That same year, a study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that in Massachusetts and Florida, a younger worker sending in a résumé was 40% more likely to be called for an interview than someone age 50 or older.
"There continue to be the same stereotypes about older workers, such as they're not willing to try new things and don't have the experience with technology," says Deborah Russell, director of work-force issues at AARP, the large Washington-based advocacy group for older adults.
The bias can be subtle. Pam Taylor, 60, has years of experience in the hotel industry. While applying for one opening recently, she was asked by the interviewer if it would bother her to have "young people" in positions above her.
"That was an age-related question," the Ohio resident says. She adds: "I never heard back from them."
Plenty of Resources
The good news is that there are resources to help older workers with their job search and to help them be ready for age-related concerns from potential employers. AARP helps individual job seekers with their résumé skills at no charge and annually publishes a list of employers that, according to AARP, are most friendly toward workers over 50 when it comes to recruiting practices, opportunities for training and options such as flexible scheduling. (Information is available at aarp.org/careers.)
The Career Advice page for employment Web site Monster.com features a link to a section called "Careers at 50+" which includes a helpful article on résumé tips for older job seekers.
Gen Plus, a blog for the 50-plus set (genplus.blogspot.com), offers a good discussion of issues facing older workers.
Another option in several cities around the country is the chapters of 40Plus, a nonprofit group that offers, among other services, job-hunting seminars and office space that people looking for work can use as a base. The Washington, D.C., chapter, for instance, offers a two-week job training seminar that includes video-taped mock interviews. This course costs $595.
The Web site for the D.C. chapter (40plus-dc.org) has more information about its programs as well as links to chapters in other parts of the country.
Rethink That Résumé
Among the first steps is to rethink the presentation of a résumé. Instinct often tells you to put everything on a résumé -- probably a holdover from your days as a younger job hunter, when your background might have seemed a bit thin. Instead, focus a résumé on relevant work experience -- the more recent the better.
If there's something to highlight but it's from a job 20 or 30 years ago, add it to the résumé under a heading such as "additional skills," without specific dates. AARP suggests a résumé that focuses on "what you can do and how you can do it, rather than on when you did it and for whom."
Still, take the time to make an inventory of accomplishments over the course of an entire job history. David Powell, a 56-year-old Washington, D.C., resident with a background in television documentaries, went back and discovered that there were awards that he had won that he had simply forgotten about. "There's a lot of stuff that I found that's pretty marketable," he says.
Interview Anxiety
For many older workers, the real challenge is sitting down for an interview across the desk from somebody who may be 20 years their junior. It's important to be prepared for the uncomfortable questions, including your age, a question that companies are allowed to ask. "It may be improper but it's not illegal," Ms. Russell of AARP notes.
Don't dodge the question. Rather, state your age -- but make it clear you can handle the job you're applying for.
Barbara Moldauer, who is in her 50s and today has a job working for a federal government agency in Washington, has been asked what year she graduated from college -- a date she purposely doesn't list on her résumé, to help her get a foot in the door.
"I just answer," she says. "If you're good at what you do, there are positions for you."
Wendy Spiegel, who operates the Gen Plus blog, suggests focusing efforts on certain industries that tend to be more friendly toward older workers, even if it's not the industry in which job seekers had spent their careers. For example, she suggests health care and finance and even homeland security. "You might think there is a bias in the finance industry toward younger workers, but the reality is that brick-and-mortar locations [such as bank branches] can't find managers," she says.
Added Challenges
Some aspects of aging can require extra effort to overcome.
Debbie Lincoln, of Little Rock, Ark., is 55 years old and suffers from arthritis -- but she says in her last job she never missed a day of work because of the problem. Still, she knows just the appearance of straining to get out of a chair can affect her chances of getting a job.
So, to make things easier for herself, she scouts the location of a company where she has an interview ahead of time. In this way, she can figure out, for example, where she should park to lessen any strain involved in getting to the appointment. Some problems "aren't going to be easy to overcome but you try to work around them," she says.
Of course, there may be times when a company is illegally discriminating against older workers or job seekers.
If it does seem like a company is biased against older workers or job seekers, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission outlines what constitutes age discrimination on its Web site, at eeoc.gov/types/age.html.
• Email: encore@wsj.com
I think I may be in love with a man I've never met. Intrepid LA Times staff writer, Jonathan Peterson, dares to tread where few go...into the topic of hiring 50 plussers. Back in May, Peterson brought new statistics regarding older workers to the front pages of the LA Times.
I fell in love back then, but just a few short days ago, the lightening bolt may have actually hit. Mr. P. sent a bit more light our way. On September 3, 2007, Peterson published two more articles (specifically on the older worker) -- Companies try to retain older workers, and Putting retirees' expertise to work.
In the first article, Peterson plunges into the challenges many companies are starting to face in finding skilled labor or specialized talent. (If you are a frequent reader, I've commented quite a bit on industries that are having very specific challenges: engineering, healthcare, education, finance, retail, customer service, just to name a few...)
Some employers are starting to realize that their workers with years and years of experience may be harder to replace than they once thought.
According to Peterson, "In a society that exalts youth, older workers may sometimes feel like outcasts of the economy -- prodded into early retirement by corporate buyouts, overlooked for training and promotions, typecast by younger managers as past their prime.
Indeed, one 2005 study found that job applicants under age 50 were 42% more likely to be called for interviews than those over 50.
Yet there may be early glimmers of change. The oldest baby boomers are entering their 60s, raising the prospect of a vast wave of retirements. The post-World War II baby boom, moreover, was followed by a smaller "baby bust" generation.
As a result, some employers are worried that they will lose too many people -- and are pioneering policies to make the workplace more friendly to older employees."
Yikes? How is it that those under 50 are 42% more likely to be called for interviews?! In my Eons group (Careers for Boomers and 50 Plus) there are many heartbreaking stories that unfold...dedicated jobseekers who often times may search for a new job (any job) over one or even two years (or more) -- with no success.
And yet, according to this article, some employers are finally trying to make the workplace more friendly to older employees, so that they will stay. The first place that I believe needs an overhaul is at the recruiting and candidate presenting level -- in retraining recruiters to look outside the strict parameters of the job description and to be willing to re-engineer, and retool potentially great, dedicated, mature new hires. Because once a Gen Plusser is hired, they will stay and they will perform...with pleasure.
The second article is focused on bringing retirees back into the work force in specialized positions, often times for contract positions. Some great resources are mentioned and it is worth a read...whether you are a jobseeker OR an employer.
If you are a 50 plus friendly employer, please get the word out. There are thousands of eager 50 plus jobseekers looking to fill your jobs!
Being a Kelly girl (as I once was and no, I'm not in the pic) isn't what it used to be. When I was a Kelly Girl, I had never used a computer before. I walked into the office and the recruiter set me up on a Word 4.0 tutorial. I did really well (or so I thought) and off they sent me on my first job. Not to bore you with all the details, but I had not been shown HOW to turn the computer ON. I also didn't know how to save a file to any destination other than the C: drive. I didn't even know what I didn't know! Yup -- never found the document I'd spent the entire day on. Manager was not too happy. We can leave that story behind.My father is 76. It really bothers him that he is heading into the last leg of this journey and cannot fully share the years and years of knowledge that he has with us, his kids, and with the rest of the world. He'd like to find a way to dump his brain into his kids. At 76 he can look at most any problem and see a solution -- more often than not, he'll have experienced a similar situation in the past and learned from having chosen a correct or incorrect path. What is frustrating is that he wants to pass that knowledge along to us while we are in the process of learning through our own experiencing.
In 2003-04, there was a huge strike where first Von's (and ultimately Ralph's and Albertson's) 70,000 employees stayed off the job for endless months trying to make a deal surrounding wages and medical insurance. As the strike went on, brinkmanship and national financial leverage, against a shaky union strategy turned into the stalemate that wouldn't end. I remember that early on in the strike, my father tried to contact anyone at Ralph's management or on the mediation team with his solution (as a business owner, he became well known for his skilled negotation abilities, particularly with unions.) He felt that he could bring the two sides together quickly with a two-tiered program and he laid it out for me at the time. His plan was similar to the plan that was eventually accepted, but with a long term implementation program to keep employee morale up and production high.The US department of Labor just released the latest unemployment figures -- holding at about 4.6%. Not much to look at in the big picture, but I like to look at the report and see if there are any continuing/ongoing/new trends. I've linked to the report above for anyone who would like to read it directly.
Here are the points of interest for Gen Plussers. Of this 4.6% of unemployed, 1.3 million have been unemployed 27 weeks or longer. There are almost 370,000 discouraged workers in July. Discouraged workers are defined as those not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. This reflects posts and comments on my Careers group on Eons, emails I receive, and other general comments on this blog.
Healthcare continues to climb as a major industry with job openings -- over the year, health care employment has expanded by 377,000 and the trend continues to climb.
Not reflected in this report, but, sadly, breaking our hearts at the same time, the tragedy in Minnesota, brought a huge spotlight on American bridge infrastructure.
Reflecting that, at Gen Plus, we're seeing employers show an increased interest in finding engineers and those with communications experience and healthcare/allied health disciplines.
Billions of dollars may have to be spent on shoring up our infrastructure -- from engineering to healthcare -- and the money will be an issue, but the bigger issue is where will the skilled people-power come from? It is going to have to come from our demographic. The experience that is going to be needed is not currently available in sufficient numbers in the younger workforce.
I've been commenting on several industries for several months and this continues to give support to needs in engineering, transportation (rail, road and air infrastructures are all aging as well), healthcare and communication (field, technical, corporate).
If you have any expertise or skill in areas that could be helpful to these industries, now is the time to rework your resume to highlight those specific skills and get yourself posted -- on Gen Plus and on other free job boards.
In addition to running Gen Plus, I own/manage/moderate a group on Eons, Careers for Boomers and 50 Plus with over 825 members. One of the group members posted an interesting comment today, regarding teaching, that I want to share with this readership.
At the end of May, the Public Policy Institute of California (www.ppic.org) sent out a release detailing recent findings on a potentially dramatic impact on the California economy. For the full release, click here. What is alarming to the state is that there are now less college educated workers moving INTO California and those who already live here are not graduating in sufficient numbers to keep up with work demand. An overall shortage of college educated workers in California means potentially higher wages for those who will choose to live and work here. Part of the challenge is the soaring increase in cost of living. Home purchases are not affordable, traffic is really horrific in the major metropolitan areas, gas prices are high. Sunshine just ain't cutting it anymore.
This is the start of a geographic shift in our own country (a few weeks ago I wrote about the massive Chinese migration happening across that great geography) and I also suspect, strong opportunities for the hoards of 50 plussers, who have the skill sets, are prepared to stay where their roots are, and are willing to work.
Keep your eyes on California. All trends start on the West Coast. If California need can help drive employment for the 50 plusser, then we will see that sweep across the country...from the West, through the Center of our country (which needs the most help right now) all the way to the Eastern shores.
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