The Second Time Around Retirement used to offer people a chance to relax after years of labor. But the days of playing shuffleboard in Florida are gone. Now, Americans are increasingly looking at retirement as a way to pursue new interests, start a second career, or do work for the greater good.
In the coming decades ? as American businesses confront the job gap weve discussed earlier ? older employees who embark on new careers will be an increasingly valuable resource for businesses. It will be important to attract experienced workers from other businesses or professions. Retaining your own productive employees will become even more critical. But it will require all of us to look at retirement in a different fashion.
How does a company attract these second careerists? How does it make its jobs attractive to people who are looking for personal rewards rather than monetary gain?
Perhaps youre thinking of a change yourself. What is the best way to get what you want? And what are some of your options?
According to a survey by Monster.com, slightly more than a third of people retire because they want a change. Another quarter desire a better balance between work and life. After decades of work, senior employees are ready for something different. If an employer can offer a new work routine or pattern, some of these potential retirees may even stay with their current companies.
By the age of 50, many people are bored or burned out by their jobs. Some older people, of course, have to continue working full-time for a few more years before they can retire because they cant afford to stop. Poor pension provisions may make more years of work inevitable.
Nevertheless, in the past five years, a fifth of the adults in the U.S. population have voluntarily made changes in their lifestyles that reduce their take-home pay. People with higher net worth may choose to enter fields with high "psychic income" rather than high monetary income.
Many older professionals turn to a second career after a successful first career. Investment bankers become elementary school teachers. Lawyers become woodworkers. CFOs run literacy programs. These people look for gratification in something other than money and stock options.
Most people want to have the freedom to work at something that interests them. Maybe they want to work fewer hours. Maybe they would prefer to have more time for recreation and leisure. But they probably want to stay in the game. A second career gives them a chance to alter the course of their work lives.
Typically, second careers begin after a break from regular employment. It might take a few months of sitting at home to recharge batteries before an employee is ready for a fresh start. Those who succeed don’t rush into their next assignment. People want to have a turning point, a chance to step out of a full-time job or an exhausting career, take a break, maybe even a sabbatical, and reinvent themselves.
People often change their minds about retirement after a few years. A lot of retirees are bored ? as indicated by the fact that the average retiree watches 43 hours of television a week.
But even if they’re bored, they usually aren’t enthusiastic about returning to their former jobs in the same capacity. That’s one reason it’s so hard to persuade teachers and nurses to return. People are more likely to be interested in returning on different terms and conditions. Or they may want to pursue an entirely new area of work.
It’s understandable that people in mid-life want to change and develop over their next 20 years. For one, lifespans have increased. So traditional retirement ages aren’t as old as they were when Otto von Bismarck established the age of 65 as the benchmark more than 100 years ago. That’s why, increasingly, the years between 45 and 55 are seen as the opening stage of a new career. There are many occupations where a 10- to 15-year career is sufficient to justify the cost of training.
This sort of transfer of skills can be accomplished through workforce development. Those who are employed in larger corporations may have internal options to shift roles or change conditions. It’spossible they might be able to find new patterns of work that suit them and their employer. For those hoping for change and career development in smaller enterprises, they may have to find a new employer.
Because it has an older population than the U.S. or Europe, Japan has already begun to confront the issue of post-retirement employees. A survey of engineers over the age of 50 conducted by the Japan Federation of Steel Workers’ Unions found that more than 60 percent hoped to continue working past the mandatory-retirement age.1 Forty-three percent of those who wanted to keep working wanted to do so full-time. Thirty-seven percent would work if they had a five- or six-hour day. Again, that suggests an opportunity for flexible or part-time work arrangements.
Many people identify themselves by their occupations. This can be a barrier to change. Women may have an easier time of adjusting to a second career, for two reasons:
They typically haven’t been in their current jobs as long as men have. Women are likely to have had to find different work identities after a break from work.
Because men are more likely to spend years in the same environment, they usually have a harder time assuming another work identity. In such cases, leaving a job means retiring, because changing to a new area of work doesn’t seem to be a realistic option.
This will become more significant in the next 15 years, when the number of white males between the ages of 35 and 55 ? the demographic group where most top management comes from ? will fall by 15 percent.
Much good comes from the pursuit of second careers by executives and professionals. Our society will benefit a great deal from the altruism of these talented and experienced people.
A growing number of retiring military personnel are making a second career for themselves in teaching. The Troops to Teachers program ? now supervised by the Department of Education ? encourages former military people to obtain teaching certificates. It even gives them bonuses if they agree to work in lowincome schools.
Troops to Teachers allows teachers to bring a breadth of real-life experience to the classroom. It fills critical shortages in math and science classrooms. And ex-military people are experienced in dealing with groups of youngsters in a disciplined way.
Similarly, the Golden Apple Foundation, a non-profit education group, is helping launch an accelerated teacher-accreditation program at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois to help older people who want to become teachers in Chicago’s schools.2
Both programs recognize the value of a strong education ? both for our society and for our economy. And both programs recognize the value of a heretofore untapped reservoir of talent in retirement-age instructors.
Some current trends work against keeping older employees. As companies seek to maintain productivity and profits with fewer people, more demands are made of employees.
Retirees want lower stress, flexible hours, and opportunities to pursue other interests. It makes sense for a company to help them balance their obligations to their jobs and their outside interests. Employers need a stable workforce, and employees want change and new challenges.
Companies that promote worklife balance will have a competitive advantage over companies that don’t. Contrary to popular belief, for example, flexible working can be cost-effective. In reality, an employer can get more value from two part-time employees than one full-time employee.
Employers will also have to look toward creative methods to recruit experienced workers. People want flexibility in their work patterns and control over when and where they work. Employers should accommodate individual patterns of work to suit personal circumstances.
That means offering more flexibility in scheduling. It may mean expanded use of telecommuting and more on-site conveniences, or offering compressed work weeks ? for example, working 40 hours in less than five days.
If you’re considering taking up a second career, try to look at it from various angles. People work for social reasons, especially for identity. Research your potential career. Talk with those who already do what you want to do. What seems like a good idea might not be so wonderful in reality. Join a trade association. Attend job fairs to network. If you’re looking for “psychic income,” give yourself a trial period to see if you truly enjoy the work. It may not turn out to be what you had hoped for.
Employers should offer broad training alternatives to older employees. Training should not be limited to specific job-oriented subjects. Broad and general training is better to inspire a new area or topic of interest.
The point to remember is that, for many senior employees, this isn’t just about pay. People leave work because they want a change in their lives. The psychological benefits of doing good or accomplishing something you believe to be important can be more valuable than another 4 percent raise.
Employers who respond to the needs and aspirations of their employees will retain staff and keep productivity high. If you can offer an opportunity for renewal, you’ll have a head start.
Because money and power will not be the motivators they were in the past, job satisfaction and freedom will be more important. People want to make a difference ? they don’t always aspire to be managers. Those employers who can offer employees the intangible gratification that comes from doing something interesting or virtuous will have a competitive advantage. As second-careerists know, there is something wonderful to the challenge of having to constantly renew what you know. Here are three developments we’ll see as the result of people pursuing new careers:
First, we’ll see a more concerted effort to develop second-career teachers. The Chicago Public School System has created a program with the Chicago-based Academy for Urban School Leadership to encourage second-career teachers to teach in the city’s elementary schools. The program recruits candidates, and pays the costs of obtaining a master’s degree and a teacher’s certificate. It also provides a stipend for living expenses.
Second, look for more companies to create new positions specifically to appeal to people in their second careers. The goal will be to take advantage of these employees’ skills and experience without burdening them with managerial or administrative responsibilities.
Third, we will see a growth in firms that contract out retired executives as shortterm consultants in mid-level to senior management positions. Such companies will be able to market expertise effectively.
References List :
1. For information about Japans study of the issue of post-retirement employees, visit the Japan Institute of Labour website at: www.jil.go.jp/bulletin/year/1992/vol31-10/05.htm 2. For more information about the Golden Apple Foundation teacher accreditation program, visit their website at: www.goldenapple.org/gate.htm
