The wave of baby boomer hitting retirement age threatens to create such a void in the workforce that states are crafting policies and programs to keep older Americans working and volunteering.
Five states have launched initiatives aimed at getting the most out of the experience and skills of older Americans. Another eight are working with the national Governors Association to study ways to keep boomers in the labor market a volunteers or part-time workers.
It’s a major shift in public policy in a nation that has treated the aging of 79 million boomers as a likely drain on social and entitlement programs. The oldest turn 62 this year. “People are now saying that they want to and need to continue to work,” says John Gomperts, president of Civic Ventures, a non-profit think tank that just wrote a report on states leading the call to engage boomers. “The aging of America might turn out to be something good for individuals and communities across the country.” What some are doing:
Arizona, where more than a quarter of the population in several counties is older than 60, launched the Mature Workforce Initiative. This spring, azmatureworkers.com will provide online listings of paid and volunteer work. The programs also will highlight businesses deemed “mature-worker friendly” and change state government retirement policies to allow greater flexibility.
California, where the 60-plus population will almost double to 8.7 million by 2020, faces labor shortages in the public sector. During the next 10 years, the state will need 33,000 new math and science teachers. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sherry Lansing, former CEO of Paramount Pictures, launched the EnCorps Teacher Program. The corporate-sponsored effort is designed to entice boomers into teaching.
“There are plenty of crack math and science potential teachers retiring from corporations,” says for senator Harris Wofford, D-PA., who is working with states on boomer initiatives for Experience Wave.
Maryland passed the Baby Boomer Initiative Act, New York the Mature Worker Task Force and Massachusetts the Coalition on Vital Aging
The National Governors Association is working with Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Maine, New Mexico, Ohio and Wyoming in a year-long program to find ways to tap skills for older workers. “Not everybody has three pensions and an IRA plan,” says Melanie Starns, The Arizona governor’s policy advisor on aging. “A lot of people actually need the work to survive, and others who have more time don’t want to just stuff envelopes and answer phones.” Adds Wofford: “We are retiring the concept of retirement.”
Source: USA TODAY February 22, 2008
