Labor market strong for semi-retired
Bruce Peterson, a chemical engineer and manager at Procter & Gamble, was energized by his work. But he had tired of the 10- to 11-hour days. He had invested wisely, so he could afford to retire — at age 52.
So he did, sort of. He went to work for an innovative Indianapolis-based company called Your Encore, which farms out highly skilled workers on a temporary basis to other companies. Since December, Peterson has worked three days a week on a project at Eli Lilly and Co.
Such phased-in retirements could help save businesses from a coming worker shortage.
From 2008 to 2030, about 76 million baby boomers will retire, according to the Government Accountability Office, but only 48 million new workers will be available to take their positions.
“The folks I talk to, small business, aren’t really dealing much with it,” says David Holt, vice president of work force development policy at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. “They have plans one year out, three years out, maybe five years out.”
The oldest boomers will turn 65 six years from now.
Today’s seniors, born just in front of the baby boom, are working later. A third of men and 23 percent of women ages 65 to 69 have jobs. The AARP recently posted on its Web site a list of 13 companies it calls “featured employer,” companies — including Home Depot and Borders Group, the bookstore operator — receptive to hiring older workers.
Carol D’Amico, chancellor at Ivy Tech State College in Indianapolis, says many of the companies she deals with — most with 250 to 500 workers — haven’t done something as simple as calculating the average age of their work forces.
“And when they go to calculate it,” she says, “they’re astounded at the percentage of their work force that will soon be eligible to retire.”
Some companies are taking steps to ease the coming transition. Vectren Corp., an Evansville, Ind.-based utility company, last year formed a task force of human resources and operations staffers. The group found where the company was most vulnerable to imminent retirements — its hourly workers, such as its electricians. The company beefed up its relationships with colleges and trade schools throughout the state.
As the economy picks up and more jobs are created, says Vectren Human Resources Vice President Dick Lynch, “I think people will pay a lot more attention (to the coming work force shortage). At times when no one is hiring, it’s not as intense of an issue.”
Indianapolis-based Your Encore, founded 18 months ago following a collaboration between Lilly and Procter & Gamble, in effect bundles recently retired, highly educated consultants and offers them up for short-term projects. A company’s $50,000 fee to Your Encore gives it access to Your Encore’s stable of 530 people.
The workers, who pay nothing to be in the network and are free to turn down projects, are paid an hourly wage equal to what they last made as full-time employees plus a cost-of-living adjustment.
After 30 years of working late, Peterson now has time to take a tae kwon do class with his daughters. He installed a new sink for his wife. His lawn has never looked better. “I had a satisfying career at P&G,” Peterson says. “But I like my life better now.”