Older Workers Ready to Hire: Retirees Have the Skills Needed to Fill Mounting Vacancies

By Howard Risher, Ph.D.

Employers in all sectors and in every developed country are confronted by mounting job vacancies that are impeding economic growth. The vacancies also affect government operations. The problem started a decade ago but was overlooked until the COVID crisis and the Great Resignation prompted the attention of the news media. 

Vacancies have averaged over 10 million a month since mid-2021. In recent unemployment reports, less than 6 million people were counted as looking for jobs. That explains the continuing high vacancy count. 

The vacancies are linked to two global demographic trends: fewer babies and increased longevity. The problem is also related to the shift starting decades ago from ‘blue collar’ jobs requiring strength and agility to knowledge jobs where skills are the keys to job performance. Knowledge workers today are fully capable of working as long as they are healthy. Professionals commonly work into their 70s.

The demographic trends are also tied to the current political concern with funding Social Security. Those benefits are “pay-as-you-go” with current benefits funded by active workers. With increased numbers of retirees living longer, projections show the FICA taxes will be inadequate to pay the benefits by 2035. 

A deeply entrenched problem in the world’s youth-oriented society is ageism. That is treating older people differently from others based on assumptions or stereotypes related to their age. It influences employment, cultural settings, and politics. Research shows the assumptions are not valid, but too often employers rely on stereotypes and deny older workers training and promotion opportunities.  Work cultures are too often unhealthy.

The negative effects of ageism have been the focus of critical reports from the UN, the OECD, and the World Economic Forum. It’s a global problem. A McKinsey study found the annual costs are in the billions.

In the first year of the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of older workers were laid off and the bias they experienced in job hunting convinced them to retire. Since then, federal data show three million workers more than normal retired; for many it was years earlier than planned.

Now, many want to ‘unretire,’ but employers often ignore applications from older workers. Unfortunately, the courts concluded the ADEA applies only to employees, not applicants.  That needs to be addressed by Congress.

The bias and discrimination so costly to older workers is entrenched in the culture of many workplaces.  That’s a core problem. Leaders need to focus on the need for change. Including older workers in ongoing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives is a good early step.

Contrary to the stereotypes, research shows older workers have better job knowledge, are better at solving new problems, are capable of functioning with minimal supervision, and often have a better work ethic. In the same situation, they are likely to perform better than younger recent hires.  They can be productive much sooner. All of which is to say, their loss can be costly and their skills hard to replace. 

For older workers, a ‘good’ job’ – that is a job where they are valued and treated fairly – and their decision to defer retirement contributes to better physical and mental health. They enjoy increased longevity. It also keeps them connected socially. When older workers continue working, they fill a void, and their taxes help to fund federal benefits. It’s a win-win.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Jun 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781977265302

Book preview

Older Workers Ready to Hire

Retirees Have the Skills Needed to Fill Mounting Vacancies

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2023 Howard Risher, Ph.D.

v3.0

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On the one hand: labor shortages, less loyal employees, fractured workforces. On the other: smart, healthy, motivated older workers underutilized, out of the workforce who don’t want to be, with plenty of smarts and zest to contribute. The folly of ageism is shameful -- and the answer to our workforce woes a no-brainer.

--Andrés T. Tapia, Senior Partner, Korn Ferry, Global DE&I and ESG Strategist

Talent is not about age, but about contribution at any age. Howard’s thoughtful book reminds us that when organizations retire retirement, they can access an incredible talent pool. Timeless message and timely tools for today’s new work requirements.

--Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; Partner, the RBL Group. He was named the most influential thinker in HR by HR magazine

Howard Risher explores the challenges facing older workers with vision and clear solutions gleaned from his decades enmeshed in the human resources industry. His new book provides an insightful look at the business case for older workers spurred by the demographic shifts of an aging global population.

–Kerry Hannon, workplace futurist, Yahoo Finance senior columnist and author of In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work

Howard Risher’s book provides us with insights into why purposeful activity including working longer is so important for individuals at or close to retirement age, insights into why such work is important for the U.S. economy, and insights into how ageism has been a roadblock to a low-cost solution to a societal problem.

--Anna Rappaport, FSA, Actuary and Futurist. She is Past-President of the Society of Actuaries and Society’s Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks.

Howard Risher knows what every C-Suite executive should recognize. A rapidly aging population and disruption in retirement norms portend radical shifts in the future of work. Risher’s book is a call to action at a time when no one involved in talent management should be resting on laurels.

--Paul Irving, Senior Advisor, Milken Institute; Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology

Packed with new research and grounded in Howard Risher’s four-decade career as an HR consultant, Older Workers Ready to Hire! explains why age bias in the workplace harms millions—and what do to about it.

--Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism

In this age of increased longevity and improved health, the changing context of work and retirement and the emergence of job vacancies present problems for employers that are addressed in a new book by Howard Risher. His suggestions for action steps among Individuals, employers and policymakers go beyond lip service and have the potential to change the life course for a growing aging population.

--Jacquelyn B. James, PhD, Founder, Sloan Network on Aging & Work and past co-director of the Center on Aging & Work, Boston College

In Older Workers Ready to Hire, Howard Risher presents a strong argument for including older adults in our workforce. His insights will guide policymakers and business leaders as they navigate a super-aged society, where at least one out of five people is over 65.

--Bradley Schurman, Author of The Super Age: Decoding Our Demographic Destiny. Founder and CEO of the website, The Super Age

Table of Contents

Foreword

Prologue

One: Hiring Older Workers Addresses Two Escalating Problems

Retirement is an Outdated Idea

The Argument for Older Workers

The Core Problem: Ageism

Ageism Is Linked to Another Core Problem

The Great Resignation Highlighted Worker Dissatisfaction

Older Workers Are a Mixed Bag

The Costs Will Continue to Increase

Two: Retirement is a New Chapter

COVID-19 Changed Life Plans

Who Truly Wants to Stop Working?

Older Workers Interests Are Different

A National Secret – Financial Insecurity in Retirement

Easing Into Retirement

Stress, Health, and Retirement

Only as Old as You Feel You Are

A Reason to Get Out of Bed

Three: Age Discrimination Never Gets Old

Age-Related Stereotypes Affect Everyone’s Life

Hostile Work Environments

Age Discrimination Is Costly

Proving Age Discrimination is Difficult

Leadership Is Needed

Four: Growing Talent Shortages – and the Need for Older Workers

The New Reality of Labor Markets

Help Wanted

Vacancies in the Public Sector Impact Society

Government Has Failed to Help Older Workers

What the UK government is doing to help older workers

Support for Retired Workers Re-Entering the Labor Force

Jobs for Older Workers Will Pay Off

Five: Older Workers Are Leaders in Every Sector

Six: What Older Workers Want From Work

Older Workers Have What Employers Want

A Possible Problem: Younger Supervisors

Flexibility is Now a Priority for All Workers

For Employers, This Will Not Be an Easy Fix

Seven: Creating Best Places to Work for All Workers

Leaders and Talent Management

Managers Create the Work Experience

Switching to Skill-Based Management

Data Analytics is Now Basic

Trust and Respect Are Vital

A New, Old Role for Employee Committees

Eight: The U.S. Retirement System Needs Salvaging

The 1980s Changed Everything

Social Security

Debate Issue: Is This a Retirement Crisis?

Adding a Fourth Leg to the Stool – Deferring Retirement

The Changes in Recently Enacted Secure 2.0

Ideas to Salvage the Retirement System

Nine: Encouraging Longer Working Lives Is a Global Concern

From the Executive Summary of the UN’s Global Report on Ageism

The Key – Promoting Longer Working Lives

Innovative Retirement-Related Practices

Encouraging Employers to Retain and Hire Older Workers

How Can We Best Engage Older Workers?

Embrace the multigenerational workforce

Redefine and expand roles

Facilitate the re-entry of older adults into the marketplace

Create ‘opportunities for older workers to strengthen adaptability and resilience’

Deploy new technologies to support older workers

Ensure access to lifelong learning opportunities

Provide ‘educational credits’

Create workplaces ‘that enable integration of upskilled older workers’

About the Author

Foreword

An aging workforce, both in the US and all other industrialized countries, represents one of the great challenges and opportunities of modern times. It represents a triumph of public health as the main reason why we have an aging workforce is that we are living longer and healthier. Yet when we listen to pundits talking about the economy and the labor force, they make it sound like a bad thing. Would it really be a good thing if we all died sooner? The reason they sometimes come to the conclusion that an aging workforce is a bad thing is largely because they seem to think this is simply a story of an aging population that will not be working longer to pay for those additional years of life creating a crisis for retirement funding. In other words, they skip over the workforce part.

To see the great advantages of having an older workforce simply substitute the word experience for older. It would sound crazy to go to the hospital and ask for the oldest doctor but perfectly sensible to ask for the most experienced doctor. Age and experience are highly correlated, and as a result, older/experienced workers perform better than their younger/inexperienced colleagues on almost every measure of job performance. Again, when pundits talk about the alleged advantages of having a young population, remember that they are talking about a workforce that has yet to be educated and trained before they can be useful.

So, what is the problem here? We are living longer, we should be working longer, and that could be good for the economy and for individuals. The problem is age discrimination, the assumption that because individuals are older, they are less competent or in other ways less able. That assumption and the discrimination associated with it is in many ways a huge puzzle. Older is a classification to which we all aspire, and if we are lucky, we will get there. Yet people who are not yet older discriminate against what will be in time be the older version of themselves. It is hard to wrap our heads around why this is the case: could we imagine that discrimination against, say, people of color would persist if white people knew they would become people of color in time or that discrimination by straight people against LGBT/Q individuals would continue if the former knew they would transition into the latter? Yet this is what we see.

The explanations for this bias are complex and associated with the fact that older people play along with it to avoid that discrimination themselves. But for employers whose interest should be in effectiveness of their workforce, it is costly to engage in that discriminate as well as in most all cases a violation of law. Yet by many measures, age discrimination is the most pervasive form of discrimination.

What to do about this? Howard Risher’s book takes this on, making the case for why we need to put a stop to age discrimination and why it is in all our interests, especially younger individuals who will in the future have the most to gain from a world where the experience of older workers is embraced.

Dr. Peter Cappelli

George W. Taylor Professor of Management

Director, Center for Human Resources

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Prologue

The headlines started in early 2020 when COVID-19 triggered the first layoffs. That was followed by the Great Resignation as workers working at home concluded they were dissatisfied with their jobs. For 2021 over 47 million quit their jobs. The monthly quits for 2022 show the total for the year will exceed 50 million. Initially younger workers resigned in large numbers but as the pandemic continued there was a shift to older workers, often in higher-paid fields. Surveys in late 2022 show increasing numbers of workers – 50 percent or higher – are ready to resign if they can find better jobs.

Government data show job vacancies have exceeded 10 million a month since mid-2021. That’s 50 percent higher than in 2019. The openings exist in every sector and are impeding economic growth.

In the most recent government reports, there are 5.7 million people looking for jobs and 10.7 million open jobs in the U.S. The problem is captured in the numbers for Not in the labor force -- that is people who ‘dropped out’ and are no longer working or looking for work – where the total increased by 4.5 million from early 2020. Significantly, the 55 and older dropouts account for over 95 percent of the increase.

Demographic trends are central to the problem -- Baby boomers are dropping out at a time when fewer young people are entering the workforce. The result -- the vacancy problem is likely to get worse.

Economists have predicted a slower economy or recession for 2023 but unemployment for workers 25 or older continues to be historically low. Every worker who wants a job has a job.

With the end of the pandemic in sight and labor markets transitioning to a new normal, media headlines are beginning to focus on the problems vacancies are creating. In construction, America desperately needs 1 million more construction workers. In technology, Technology will create millions of jobs. The problem will be to find workers to fill them. And in trucking, A shortage of 80,000 truck drivers is wreaking havoc on the supply chain—and it’s about to get worse. Similar problems exist in virtually every industry.

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