Retired Workers May Be Motivated to Return to Work

Despite the threat of a recession, the job market continues to be strong. There are more job openings than there are people looking for jobs according to the latest jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One group of workers that exited the labor market at a higher-than-expected rate in the last two years were older workers. People at or near retirement age likely left their jobs to minimize their health risks and because their retirement portfolios had performed well, allowing them to leave full-time employment. 

 With rising inflation, there now may be financial incentives for older workers to return to the labor force. Recruiting older workers, or bringing back former employees (i.e., alumni), may be an effective strategy for staffing hard-to-fill roles. To better attract retired employees who do not want a full-time, 9-5 position, organizations should consider part-time positions, along with flexible hours and work location.

Welcoming older workers back also has a positive impact on age diversity in your organization. Learn more about the many benefits of a multi-generational workforce, and steps to take to create a culture that embraces age diversity in the recent report The Multigenerational Workforce: Making Age Diversity Part of Your Organization’s People Strategy.

In addition, the Conference Board’s recent research on Navigating the Global Talent Tsunami demonstrates how leaders must encourage their teams to fundamentally rethink some of the long held assumptions about who can do the work; where, when and how the work gets done; and how the talent acquisition function itself operates. Rethinking sourcing strategies will yield more candidates in the short term and more diverse talent pools in the long term.