Many companies courting older workers to fill jobs

By Carlos Torres
Bloomberg News Service

LYNWOOD, Calif. — Constance Berkley supplements her Social Security check by working at least 20 hours a week, which leaves her time to spend with a dozen grandchildren and half as many great-grandchildren.

"I have a wonderful job that gives me the flexibility to do other things that I need to do outside of work," said Berkley, 68, who helps promote lectures and other events at St. Francis Medical Center for older people around Lynwood, Calif., 15 miles south of Los Angeles. "I hope to be working until the Good Lord calls me home."

With an increasing number of retirement-age Americans deciding to maintain at least part-time hours, a fifth of the U.S. work force is likely to resemble Berkley in age and employment status within 15 years. Companies such as CVS Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are preparing for the future by recruiting older workers now.

"If we don't learn how to train and retain older workers, we won't have a business" in coming years, said Stephen Wing, director of the government programs department at CVS, the second-largest U.S. drugstore chain. "We want the employees in our stores to match the general population. When the customer comes in, we want to have people there they can relate to."

The baby boom generation, those born from 1946 to 1964, has started to reach 55, the age at which retirement benefits start to become available.

Workers that age and older will make up almost 20 percent of the labor force by 2015, up from 12.9 percent in 2000, according to projections from the Labor Department. Although the total labor force is projected to grow 1.1 percent annually from 2000 to 2010, the government forecasts the share that is 55 and older will grow at a 3.9 percent rate.

"To the extent that employers are going to need workers for the economy to continue to expand, they are going to have to turn to that older population," said Sara Rix, senior policy adviser at the AARP, which represents 35 million people over 50. Three years ago, her organization acknowledged that many of its members were unwilling or financially unable to stop working and shortened its name from the American Association of Retired Persons.

CVS employs almost 17,200 people age 50 and older, 16 percent of its payroll, up from less than 7 percent in 1992. It uses flexible schedules, employee discounts of 20 percent and medical and prescription plans to lure older workers. CVS even offers to find openings in Florida for seniors who migrate south during the colder months.

While the labor force is aging, more workers are inclined to stay employed longer. Eight out of 10 baby boomers plan to continue working at least part time after age 65, according to a survey commissioned by AARP. That compares with about 13 percent of people over age 65 employed today.

"We offer a great deal of flexibility and can often find a match if they don't want to work full time," said Tom Williams, a spokesman for Wal-Mart. The world's largest retailer employs 270,000 workers age 55 or older, about 25 percent of its payroll. "They bring a very strong work ethic and a great deal of experience with them."

Still, many employers shy from recruiting older workers, concerned that the cost of health insurance and training will rise and that productivity will drop. That may show in the rise in complaints of age discrimination filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Last year, workers filed 17,405 charges of age bias, up from 14,141 in 1999.

Nonprofit organizations such as Experience Works and the National Council on the Aging are trying to change perceptions by helping older workers get training and providing advice on how to land jobs.

That's how Pauline Pelletier, a 70-year-old with four great-grandchildren, got a job working about 30 hours a week. She's an administrative associate for Community Concepts Inc., a nonprofit organization that coordinates and distributes government-sponsored food assistance in Auburn, Maine.

After being involved with the National Council on the Aging for two years, she was placed for what was to be a brief stint at Community Concepts and was able to make the position permanent.

"I know it's difficult to find jobs, but you have to stick with it," Pelletier said. "Make yourself indispensable. ... You have to be willing to learn and not get stuck just doing one thing for the rest of your life."