Older workers remain on job by choice
By David Schepp
(Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News
For many older workers, working beyond retirement age became a necessity after the massive stock-market retreat in 2001 and 2002.
Pension plans that invested retirement savings in stocks and mutual funds plummeted in value, causing thousands of senior workers to delay retirement.
But those who hold jobs well into their 60s, 70s and even 80s are not always bound by need.
Some, such as octogenarian Ed Miller, an engineer employed at Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, work because they wish to remain vital.
Retiring has never crossed his mind, says Miller, who has been with CU since 1950. "Retirement means not being active, not doing something fruitful," he says. "That, to me, is inconceivable."
CVS Corp., the chain drugstore operator, employs more than 17,000 workers age 50 and older, according to research by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago-based outplacement company.
Another company embracing the virtues of older workers is Bonne Bell Inc., a cosmetics company in suburban Cleveland.
It has 84 staff members 50 and older, representing 13 percent of its 643 employees, Challenger says. More than half of these workers are over 65, and 33 employees are over 70. The oldest is 80.
Labor statistics reveal that the most dramatic job gains of any age group in recent years were among those 55 and older. From January 2001 to November 2003, the number of jobs held by those 55 and older increased by 3.7 million, or 20.7 percent, compared with a loss of 1.7 million, or 4.6 percent, among those ages 35 to 44, according to figures obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics New York region.
"That is tremendous job growth, considering the state of the economy," says Challenger's chief executive, John Challenger.
The strong gains are the best indication yet that the myths surrounding senior workers are being allayed, he said.
Those beliefs paint older workers as more prone to absenteeism and health problems, which are blamed for driving up healthcare costs to employers.
There are no data to back up those claims, says Marian Stoltz-Loike, chief executive at Queens, N.Y.-based Senior Thinking, an employment consulting firm.
She says that with the focus today on preventive care for those over 50, it's not possible to ascertain if surging health costs are associated with preventive care or the outcome of a rise in illness, disease or injury.
"There are 76 million baby boomers and 48 million Gen Xers," Stoltz-Loike says. "Just in terms of sheer numbers ... there's going to be huge healthcare costs."
In another respect older workers are no different than younger ones: It is the desire to be useful and valued.
But employers often fail to recognize the need to be recognized. According to the Conference Board, 93 percent of corporate human-resource professionals offer the same opportunities for training and development to both younger and older workers.
But the nonprofit business-research organization also found that older workers receive less formal and informal training than younger employees do.
That presents problems, Stoltz-Loike says. Employers need to understand and reinforce the qualities and values employees bring to the workplace as well as provide development to address any shortcomings.
That's where CU's Miller feels especially fortunate, saying he owes a great deal of his career's longevity to Consumers Union itself. The company's employees share a feeling that they are not only valued but also are working toward a worthwhile goal.
"You feel that you're doing something that has meaning," he says. "You're not (just) killing time."
