Tips for Finding the Best Retirement Jobs
Tips for Finding the Best Retirement Jobs
More retirement jobs will be available as employers need older workers
By Sharon O'Brien, About.com
Whatever your reason may be, if you’ve decided that you want or need a retirement job—to keep working or to re-enter the workforce after you’ve been retired for a few years—here are a few ideas to help you:
* STAY WHERE YOU ARE—The best place to find a part-time job as a retiree may be with your current employer.
According to a study by Cornell University:
o 3 out of 4 companies would permit older employees to reduce their hours rather than take full retirement, but not many employers list retirement job option as part of their formal employment policies.
o 26 percent of employers that would allow older employees to reduce their hours prior to retirement would not change the employees’ health benefits.
o 40 percent would allow employees to draw pension benefits even though they’re working part-time at retirement jobs.
* FIND A NEW PART-TIME RETIREMENT JOB—More employers are interested in hiring seniors, and some are even setting up special recruiting programs for retirement jobs to attract older workers.
AARP has formed partnerships with several national employers, who now have programs to recruit, hire and train older workers.
In addition, many other organizations help to connect prospective employers and interested older workers, such as the National Council on Aging.
* BE A CONSULTANT—Use the expertise you developed during your working years to offer short-term consulting or freelance services to companies that prefer to contract for temporary on certain projects. Generally, you will need to get a business license, keep records, and file taxes as a business on the income you earn.
* BE A TEMP—The largest employer in the U.S. is not a major corporation like Boeing or Microsoft; it’s Manpower Inc., a temp agency based in Milwaukee.
Temporary employees (“tempsâ€) are used by many businesses to supplement full-time staff or to help out with special projects. Temps often earn as much as permanent workers. Hourly rates range from $10 to $30, depending on the type of work being performed and where you’re located. In addition, about 30 percent of temp jobs turn into full-time positions.
* USE GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS—Federal and state governments have set up a variety of programs to provide job training and employment services to seniors, and so have many local communities.
One of the best government programs is the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), a program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor that helps low-income people 55 and older prepare for a variety of community service jobs.
Notable community programs include the Career One-Stop Centers and America’s Job Bank. Check with your state Employment Security Department, Department of Labor, or Department of Aging for other senior employment programs in your area.
As More People Seek Retirement Jobs, More Become Available
Fortunately, as more seniors decide to incorporate retirement jobs into their retirement plans, many companies are finding it necessary to start thinking seriously about hiring more older workers.
Part of the decision to create more retirement jobs is driven by the demographics of an aging workforce:
* By 2010, more than 51 percent of the workforce is expected to be aged 40 or older, a 33 percent increase since 1980,
* And the number of workers aged 55 and older will grow from 13 percent of the labor force in 2000 to 20 percent in 2020.
In March 2004, the Harvard Business Review wrote: "Long-standing human resources practices invest heavily in youth and push out older workers. This must change – and public policy too – or companies will find themselves running off a demographic cliff as baby boomers age."
So if you are considering retirement jobs, now is a good time to start planning or to start looking for the retirement job that’s right for you.
©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.
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