Mature Workers

This week, I have been offered the position of Student Success Paraprofessional at Blackburn College, where I have been a professor teaching everything from English, to Business, to Economics, intermittently, for the last nine years.

I profess that persistence, drive and determination are required in today's job market (since COVID changed everything).  With a tenacious focus on "having a job with purpose" rather than a paycheck, I have found a Dream Job...helping students find Career Success!

Here are additional tips for older generation workers:

For those of us who don’t have to work after they have already retired, there are multiple reasons to do so anyway — especially if the work feels less like “work.”

For starters, who couldn’t use a little extra money? Or a lot of extra money? Inflation has many retirees stretching their budgets further than planned, making that new paycheck every couple of weeks all the more enticing.

You may also have more years ahead of you than you figured, as lifespans tick up. If you don’t need to keep working for financial reasons, this may be your best chance to try something you’ve always wanted to try. 

You’re in a great position to find work on your own terms. There’s no pressure to land something quickly, no pressure to go for what pays most, no pressure to accept or continue a gig that you don’t enjoy.

Or perhaps you’re finding yourself in a position where you do have to bring in more money post-retirement. Whatever the reasons, the number of full-time U.S workers over 65 has increased steadily since 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That year, the number stood at about 1.4 million. In 2022 and the first half of 2023, it hit 5.3 million.

Part of the reason for this is that there are just more seniors, as the baby boomer generation ages. But the percentage of workers over 65 also has increased over the last decade.

 According to the BLS, 17.4% of seniors were on the job back in January 2013. Those numbers rose to 20.1% in late 2019 and early 2020, before dropping to about 16% during the height of the pandemic. 

Since then, the numbers have risen steadily and are now nearly 19% again.“We’re seeing more and more older people not only needing to work, but wanting to work,” said Carly Roszkowski, VP of financial resilience programming at AARP.

She added that 75-plus is actually the only workforce age group expected to grow this decade.

Whatever your financial situation, there are numerous options for seniors looking to re-enter the workforce but not re-enter a high-stress lifestyle. Beyond low stress, you also can prioritize things like flexible working hours and a sense of purpose.

“Flexible work hours are now sort of a job requirement for older workers,” Roszkowski said. “They want work that is meaningful. In our research, more than 90% want work that means something, giving back, and doing good. 

They believe they still have a lot to accomplish in their later years."

The type of work you seek will of course vary depending on your financial situation, skills and interests.  You can search the internet and find ideas and opportunities in many new and evolving fields of work. 

Just don’t forget that the people running the websites are also trying to make a living, so, be cautious about what you sign up for.