Disconnected and discombobulated

Aye, so here is the rub, as our good friend Bill would have said. We have a creeping Catch-22 on the horizon...or is it the elephant in the room?

It is already accepted by economists and sociologists that there will be a depletion of experienced managers to an unprecedented degree in the coming decade as millions of Boomers willingly or "unwillingly" retire. The willingly is less of the problem for the Boomers and more of the problem for recruiters and employers.

But in the "unwillingly" lies a complex dilemna of monumental proportions. Because of labor laws that were written to protect a growing work force decades ago, it is now impossible for an employee to both draw pension and work for the same company at the same time. By law, when an employee reaches the accepted age of retirement for that pension plan, they must start drawing from it. At the same time, they must no longer be employed by the holder of the pension fund.

What that has caused already and will cause to become epidemic, is that older workers will have to no choice but to retire from their current employers in order to draw pension and then either work for them on contract as independants, or, in a scarier model, work for competitors who would be able to hire them on as regular employees, or in an even scarier scenario, be cut from the workforce entirely taking their much needed savvy and experience with them...with no younger replacements in sight. And in the scariest model, not allow those workers who need to continue to work for income to remain in the workplace.

The problem is already here and in five years will start to become a workforce pandemic as Boomers start to turn 65 at a rate of one every eight minutes. That elephant is sure taking up a lot of space in the room. Wonder when legislators will really notice and take the immediate measures badly needed to bring law up to date with social advancement? When a mouse enters the room?

Jimi who?

My mother doesn't know exactly who Jimi Hendrix was. My mother, an intelligent, well-read, politically-savvy, insightful and articulate genius, really is not sure who Jimi was. Why? Because while Hendrix was reinventing electric guitar, my mother was raising four children under the age of five years old. While the sixties revolution was in full swing, my mother was coaxing us from Romper Room to the bathroom with barely a moment for self anything.

The essence of many 50 plussers was the effects of the sixties and seventies on our psyche, our motivations and our aspirations. However, I couldn't help but make a parallel with this next phase...the 50 plus phase. The information revolution is to Gen Y what the boomer revolution was to us. A new way of communication. New language, new fashion, new love, mind expansion. Gen Y also has a new language -- instant messaging and email. New fashion -- gang banger and vintage (that would be the 1980's vintage, thank you very much). New love --cyberdating, myspace predatation. Mind expansion -- information explosion.

But just as my mother isn't quite sure who Jimi was, we aren't exactly sure what Gen Y is talking about either. (And if you don't know about MySpace, then that would emphasize the point!)

When Jimi played, he couldn't read music, he couldn't write music...but he could play. With his teeth, behind his back, with waawaa pedals, with his mind. His fingers and the instrument were one.

When our youth is on the computer, their language is cyberspace. Their information is peer-driven. Their community is online. They email rather than read. And we just don't get it. But they are no different than we were. They are redefining communication for the next generations to come. Just like Hendrix defined music for a generation and opened a whole world of different possibilities.

You cannot be in the job market at 50 plus and stay in the past. And yes, the 80's are vintage. Dot com is dot done. The millenium is more than a half-decade done in. So if you are not up to speed on all things cyber, then it is time to re-educate yourself. Get on the job boards. Redo your resumes. Investigate what Gen Y'ers are doing to get themselves noticed. And do more. Get out your guitar and play your song. Jimi would nod. Gen Y would say "hey".

Human Resources Association Reports on Importance of 50 Plus Contribution

50 plus is heading up out from under the radar. With each passing week, more and more articles appear to point out the looming loss to society as we know it as our workforce continues to age. Beth McConnell, associate editor for HR News, the online magazine of the Society for Human Resource Management, penned an information-packed article on what the impact of loss of knowledge will have on the very fabric of the US economy over the next decade. For the full article, click here.

Ms. McConnell reports on a lecture by David DeLong, author of Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce, at the second annual benefits symposium hosted by MetLife, held April 3 in Washington, D.C.

DeLong reports not only on those sectors that will be hardest hit by retiring workers (engineering, healthcare) but the loss of institutional knowledge that may cripple some companies. Additionally, he shares some great statistics on the 50 plus demographic, based on his study,“Living Longer, Working Longer", where he polled 2,719 respondents between the ages of 55 and 70.

Delong: “When we conducted the study, we found that mature workers are struggling to balance the conflicting pressures of income security, post-retirement-age employment and, often, age discrimination—perceived or real—as they look for a sense of security and meaning in their ‘retirement’ years.”

Some of his findings:

Working or looking for work -

• 78 percent of respondents age 55-59
• 60 percent of 60 to 65-year-olds
• 37 percent of 66 to 70-year-olds

Drivers for the “working retired” -

• looking for meaningful activity
• try something new and different
• financial necessity: 18 percent of baby boom workers age 55-59 report they expect to have no access to retirement benefits, such as pension or 401(k), when they stop working

A solid study and worth a look.

Boomer Moonlighting

A most wonderful article to share today. This one is from way back in November, but it is worth sharing, even several months later. Wall Street Journal news editor, George Anders, published an enlightening piece on...well...moonlighting at mid-later career. For the full article click here.

In our youth, looking at our parents taking on a second job, or a sideline, was almost always an evil necessity...a marker of lack of financial success in life. As we rushed through the 80's and into the 90's, we really gave definition to the aggressive desires and goals of Yuppie-dom. And now, in later career, and nearing retirement age, many of us are creating second, or adjunct, careers -- no longer out of necessity, but of desire.

Mr. Anders takes a good look at what it means to the ego to enjoy the freshness and boost of creating a business or taking on a second job in later life. A lovely read.

Satisfaction Magazine

Today I was pondering career possibilities in the new flavor of the day sector: healthcare. And as my "spidey-sense" was a-tingling searching for connections, I discovered (or was discovered by) Satisfaction Magazine.

Focused on the Boomer and 50 plus demographic, Editorial Director Mark Miller does bring it home. They have just added a blog to their site too. Pop in for a visit, and while you are there, read this very insightful article on second career options in healthcare, written by Mary Ellen Podmolik and published in their magazine just at the end of 2005. You'll understand why I emphasize looking for positions in that field, and why so many of the employers listed on Gen Plus are, in fact, healthcare or healthcare related companies.

Where to find that job? This just in!

There is nothing more daunting than trying to find a new job. And at 50 plus, it can be downright disheartening. The effort needed is many times greater than when you were looking in your twenties, thirties and, yes, even forties. So you need to think of yourself as a "job sleuth"...a sort of private investigator in the job market.

And how does that work? Well, first of all, you have to look at the big, big picture. What is going on in the North American and world economies? I always take a look at the picture the US Bureau of Labor reports on every month. So, for example, as reported on MSNBC , in February, a lot of new jobs were created. 243,000 in the US. Which is a heck of a lot higher than the 170,000 new jobs added in January. As I noted, back in November and December, it was time to get those resumes brushed up, because as companies start the year with new budgets, the first and 2nd quarters are going to be where they'll extend themselves to staff up and then watch for the rest of their year's earnings. So this is a good start. I'd expect to see this trend continue at least through April.

Now that we see jobs being added, the next thing I look for is what sectors are hiring and firing. Climbs were in construction companies, retailers, and financial services. Manufacturing jobs, however, are down, reflecting the automotive sector downsizing. The tried-and-trues, education, health are still going strong as well.

Just because your area of expertise is NOT in one of these sectors, take a look at any job site for any of these types of companies and you'll find jobs. A construction company needs managers, administrators, accountants, lawyers, graphic designers, etc. etc. Ditto for retailers and financial services. So take the time to sleuth around. When you take a look at employers on Gen Plus, you'll note that most of the company sites carry hundreds of positions (enter "national" as your keyword to see what I'm referring to) in many disciplines, so don't limit yourself to searching in what you believe is your niche. At 50-plus, you need to be creative in your job search. Read the news. Why not companies researching alternative fuel sources and anything that could be vaguely related to homeland security?

Let me know how you do.

Fifty and Furthermore

Thank goodness subscription distribution seems to be working again!

I've been waiting all week just to send out an article from the great site, www.fiftyandfurthermore.com. Dr. Dorree Lynn has amassed a group of "sages", those who are boomer plus with, frankly, some great stories to tell. Here is one I particularly like...by Mary Liston Liepold, Ph.D., -- wife, mother, activist, lifelong reader, editor, and writer.

She expresses (with resonance for all the 50 plussers out there...) the fears and joys of a 50 plusser (actually just turned 60, so she is one of the group of first Boomers turning 60 this year) attacking a new job! Enjoy. Click here for the full article.

"I work for love, not for money. No, we’re not fabulously wealthy; it’s just that by the time I went to work for wages, after 15 years as a family day care provider, I knew people would pay me to do something I loved, and I wasn’t about to settle for less. I spent 20 years at four different nonprofits – almost 15 at the last one – and they were all good years.

Then came the day, about six months after my 60 th birthday, when I realized that I wasn’t loving my job anymore. The conventional wisdom is that it’s tough to find a new job when you’re 60, so I put out the first feelers a bit tentatively – and scored a call for an interview on every one. The ego boost was exhilarating..."