|
Q. Recently, we celebrated National Older Employees' Week. I've never heard about this event. When did this start? National Employ Older Workers' Week (the official title) was first celebrated during the Eisenhower Administration. It was intended to recognize the importance of older workers in the labor force. But every week offers an opportunity to enlighten employers about older workers' contributions as members of an integrated workforce. Every week is a good time to remind them that by 2008, 40 percent of the labor force will be 45 or older.
Q. Where do you get all your facts? I am a VP of HR and would like to continue to build my employer's knowledge about the older workforce. The S-AGE is, after all, a wizard so I could simply fill you up with everything you need to know. But, for your purposes, the following resources should be of great help to making your business case. Go to The Census Bureau home page and peruse dozens of helpful categories. Head on over to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Pew Research, The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, AARP, Towers Perrin, SHRM and so forth. Setup RSS feeds and Google sites. Read anything and everything about trends. From Megatrends to The Tipping Point to Microtrends, Mark Penn's new book, we suggest you immerse yourself in learning about trends – large and small - across the nation and across the world. Emerging patterns of change create big effects in a small world.
My sources include affiliation with certain "expert" wizards. Kelly Carter and Steven Conte
at www.brpg-inc.com are our retirement wizards, and Mark Hobbins at www.familyiq.com (one of
the founders of the Aspen Education Institute) is the genie of Aladdin fame when it comes to sharing
information about lifestyles and family relationships. Why source these particular experts? Because we believe that running your career throughout your longer lifetime takes lots of interlinked knowledge about the changing job market, your lifestyle choices and your financial health.
Q. Which cities have the highest ratios of older workers in their workforce? Let's define older workers as
between the ages of 65 and 74. As you might imagine, Washington, D.C. has the highest percentage of people in the labor force in this age group (31.8%). In descending order, the others with the highest rates are Boston (28.1%), Dallas-Fort Worth (27.9%), Minneapolis-St. Paul (27.4%) and Houston (26.5%). Nationally, nearly one in four people between the ages of 65 and 74 (23.2 percent) were in the labor force (either working or looking for work) in 2006, an increase from 19.6 percent in 2000.
Q. Where are the "hot spots" for retirement today? I can name dozens of hot spots that are growing in
popularity. Expect a swarm of migration to warmer – and cheaper – climates. Here is a hint about one such place you may not have thought of in context with retirement living. Recently, a real estate conference at UCLA claimed that in this country "there are presently over fifty-seven real estate developments with over 11,000 homes/condos with an inventory value of over $3 billion - all of them geared for the US market." What country are we talking about? Give up?
The country is MEXICO.
Q. Why has Borders taken specific actions to hire workers over age 50? After realizing that half of their customers were over 50, they reasoned that the best way to increase market share was to stress personal service and to hire employees who could relate better to its customer base. Results include: Turnover among workers over 50 is 10 times less than those under 30, which translates to an overall 30 percent reduction since the intentional recruitment of older employees began. Reduced turnover costs and more consistent service naturally led to increased profits. Online shopping is fine but there is nothing like the tactile feeling of a good book along with a cup of coffee in a clean, well-lighted place.
Q. Where do you think the majority of future older workers will be found – in the private or public
sectors? I am certain that individuals with pension plan entitlements and health care coverage will be far more likely to completely retire than others without soft landing pads. This suggests that the government will be the biggest loser in terms of government workers opting into retirement at their earliest opportunities. On the flip side of this particular coin, it could also mean that the government will be the biggest winner because former private sector employees will yearn for the benefits offered by government jobs vacated by retiring public sector workers.
Q. How does the U.S. rank relative to other countries in terms of longevity? People in 41 other countries outlive us – The most obvious of these countries is Japan but so do most of the folks in European nations as well as in Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands. "Something's wrong here when one of the richest countries in the world, the one that spends the most on health care, is not able to keep up with other countries," said Dr. Christopher Murray, head of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. Because I believe that our lifestyle choices are the main culprits, you will see more about the links between lifestyle and work in future newsletters.
Q. What exactly is it that you sell, oh sagacious one?
I don't sell anything. Remember, please that I can have what I need simply by conjuring it up. I see my role as that of sharing vital information with readers; especially those who want to know more about working throughout their longer lifetimes. I am happy to promote Ageless in America's newest product – a set of 40 FLASHCARDS entitled Overcoming Myths about Older Workers - a product that is so HOT that organizations, including the Health & Human Services Department of The County of San Diego, have bought the product sight unseen. Watch for news about its official publication in the weeks to come.
carleenmackay@agelessinamerica.com
| 