SENIOR LIVING: The Graying of the New Mexico Work Force

SENIOR LIVING: The Graying of the New Mexico Work Force

By FRANK KENNEY Director, Grant County Senior Services

The nation’s 76 million Baby Boomers are changin= g the workplace. People age 45 and = older already make up 54% of New Mexico’s labor force, and with the boomers beginning to retire, the growth of the “over 45” category will certainly accelerate.

Older workers cite multiple reasons for postponing retirement. While financial necessity is the primary reason older workers continue to stay in the workf= orce, non-financial benefits of employment such as the wish to work because one enjoys it or the desire to stay physically and mentally active are cited as well. In 2003 study conducted by AARP, 73 percent of workers age 50 to 70 w= ho had not yet retired reported they planned to work into their retirement yea= rs or never retire.

As today’s older worker delays retirement due to changes in attitudes toward work and retirement, employers must recognize a= nd address the emerging aging workforce. Not only to better accommodate a skilled and experienced older worker but because “these workers take the knowledge related to the job with them,” according to a study by AARP New Mexico. “Three-fourths of New Mexico emplo= yers say it is extremely or very important to retain institutional knowledge lost wh= en an employee retires or leaves a job; however, only three in ten actually ha= ve a formal process that enables employees to share information obtained on the = job.”

In order to more closely examine older worker issues, AARP N= ew Mexico commissioned a survey of New Mexico businesses, where older workers are define= d as employees age 50 or older. The survey, conducted in the fall-winter of 2006 measured the relative importan= ce of certain employee qualities and the degree to which older employees posse= ss these qualities. The survey a= lso examined employers’ perceptions of potential worker shortages and the loss of institutional knowledge. In addition, the study gauged the extent to which employers implement approach= es to keep older workers.

Highlights of the survey show:

· Seventy-five percent of employers say it is extremely important to retain institutional knowledge that would be lost wh= en employees retire or leave, but only thirty percent have a formal process to mitigate this shortfall.

· Over half of the employers believe their business is likely to face a shortage of qualified workers within the next = five years; however, only three in ten have taken steps to prepare for recruiting older workers, either already in retirement or near it.

· Sixty-three percent of employers currently u= se at least one strategy to allow employees to work past traditional retirement age. The most common strategi= es are: providing training to upgrade skills, hiring retired employees as consultants or temporary employees, easing into retirement with reduced schedules, and offering part-time work without benefits.

· New Mexico employers say that commitment to doing qua= lity work is the “top-rated quality of importance” for all employees= as well as the top-rated quality possessed by older workers.

· New Mexico employers say the top five advantages of employees 50-plus are experience, reliability, loyalty, good work ethic, and knowledge of the job. On the = other hand, New Mexico<= /st1:State> employers say the top five disadvantages of employees 50-plus are unwilling= ness to change, health-related issues, lack of technology skills, difficulty learning new concepts and less flexibility.

· Retaining and recruiting skilled employees a= re the most important issues for New Mexico businesses. However, addressing the needs of an aging workforce is very important to just four in ten employers.

One growing trend within the nation’s aging labor force is called “double dipping.” When employees are near retirement= , they arrange a contracting position with their same employer, so when their retirement commences and they begin collecting pensions, they go back to wo= rk usually in their same job, so they also collect a salary. The Economist, a global newspaper reports that the teacher profession in the = United States has seen double dipping become more common. M= ost states set out to prohibit it, but during the late 1990s they were forced to fudge things because of a shortage of trained teachers. Double dippers save the states mon= ey because they do not have to be trained.&nb= sp; But in most states, such deep second dips are forbidden. The Economi= st questions why an aging society, “which will soon have too few workers supporting too many pensioners, should care if some people play both roles = at once. Delaying their retireme= nt by raising the pension age, just might make sense.”=

Given the impending change in demographic make-up of t= he workforce, it is urgent that employers identify and evaluate policies that = can help them stay competitive as the Baby Boomers contemplate retirement. Strategies such as conducting work= force planning and implementing mentoring programs in order to capture formal and informal institutional knowledge can address issues such as the potential shortage of qualified workers in the next five years and the loss of institutional knowledge.

I wonder, though, how our local businesses and local government entities stack up in implementing strategies to accommodate our graying <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">New Mexico work force. Most efforts to date are being ini= tiated by larger corporations, but it is our hope here at Senior Services that even our local employers will begin instituting changes to better accommodate our older workers.

For more information on our “aging work force= 221; and other issues and initiatives concerning the employment after retirement, contact this writer at 505-388-2523 or rsvpgrant@zianet.com.