Employers Hiring Seniors Who Won’t Retire

Marcianne Kuethen

April 20, 2015

The dogs were helping me take out my trashes the other day when my neighbor drove up with his terrier. While our pups chased each other around the lawn, we got to talking about whether he was ever going to join his wife in retiring. “I just can’t imagine not having something to go to and do every day,” he admitted. “On the weekend, I sit around all day playing my guitar and looking at my photos, and I never get up from my chair.” He likes working because it gives him a reason to get up and do something, and he is not alone.

In 2010, 66 percent of workers age 60 and over were delaying retirement. Today, according to CareerBuilder’s annual retirement survey, that number has decreased to 53 percent, thanks to the improving economy and its resulting economic confidence.

But among those seniors who are delaying retirement, 75 percent cite recession as the cause. More than half of surveyed seniors plan to work after retiring from their current career. Of those, 19 percent plan to continue to work full-time, while 81 percent think they’ll likely work part-time. Fortunately for them, says CareerBuilder’s chief human resources officer, Rosemary Haefner, “employers are hiring seniors at a faster rate than we’ve seen in recent memory.” In 2014, 45 percent of private sector employers hired mature workers (age 50+), and 57 percent plan to do so in 2015.

While many seniors are unable to retire because of household financial situations or because they need health insurance and benefits, there are others who simply don’t want to quit working yet. Of those workers who are delaying retirement, one third say it’s because they enjoy their job, another 28 percent say they enjoy where they work, and 26 percent are worried that retirement will be boring!

Do those sound like the kind of employees you want on your team–engaged, team players, and lifetime learners? If so, perhaps you’ll be among the 57 percent of employers hiring seniors who won’t retire in 2015.

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