Employers and Retirees Can Form Win/Win Relationships!
We spend a lot of time with folks discussing the need to start planning now for a workforce shortage that is, not only imminent, but in reality is already here. Before providing more details about this phenomenon, let me share what one person we recently spoke with said about this matter. After talking for about 20 minutes or so he hit the nail on the head when he said, “This is a crisis whose time has come”. Indeed it has come; consider some of these numbers.
Over the next 15 years there will be a 24% gap between the number of available workers and the number of employees retiring. In other words, for every 4 people who retire there will only be 3 available to take their place! A number you may have heard before, but worth repeating-77 million Americans will retire over the next 7 to 10 years! On top of this there is the fact that many of those that would replace us, the Gen X’ers, have no desire to do so! We Baby Boomers are not role models of what the Gen X generation wants for their lives. They are not interested in working 50+ hours per week and then being laid off by some large impersonal organization. Gen X’ers read the recent article regarding Radio Shack firing several hundred employees via email and ask why they would want the same? Good question.
So what does this mean for employers and all those folks that are retiring? One thing that it means is that employers need former employees more than ever. Good news for retiring employees and maybe even good news for employers. After all, there is going to be a severe drain placed on employers as experienced employees retire, demographics will dictate this happening. However, those retiring employees will not want to just go off into the sunset for the most part. Many will want to continue working although perhaps not in the same job they previously held. An AARP study found that over 70% of people who retire want to do some type of work. It may not be in exactly the same field from which they retired, but retirees want to do something else. Many will have another 30 or more productive years ahead of them after they retire.
So, what to make of all this information? If you are preparing to retire and are planning the next phase of your life, then you have a whole wide world of opportunities open to you. The important thing is to plan for that time now, just as you have planned your financial future, you will want to plan your personal future as well. If you are an employer then you will want to be open to bringing back retirees to the workforce and you will need to be flexible to accommodate their needs and desires. They are no longer beholden to their employer and you are going to have to treat them accordingly. Ironically, in this respect, retirees are much like the GenX’ers- they are not going to want to work themselves into the ground. Time with their family, leisure time and balance are going to be the watchwords that will dictate this new generation of employees.
