At a moment when the unemployment rate hovers around 3.9%, some employers are turning to their pool of retirees to fill gaps in staffing, The New York Times reports.
“In a tight labor market, firms find recent retirees increasingly attractive,” says Kathleen Christensen, who funds research on aging and the American labor market at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “Their skills are up-to-date, they possess critical institutional knowledge, and they can mentor younger workers.”
Gad Levanon, chief economist for North America at the Conference Board, said he has witnessed similar trends.
“There’s a labor shortage in many sectors, like construction and transportation,” he says. “The attitude toward employing older workers is changing because of shortages.”
Montefiore Health System in the Bronx, New York for example, contacted nurses nearing retirement, offering them flexible options to stay on and an easy path back if they so desired.
So far, perhaps three dozen retired nurses are freelancing at four of Montefiore’s 11 health care facilities. But administrators there say they see benefits beyond the staff numbers.
“To retain nurses beyond their natural retirement age is valuable because experienced nurses have a wealth of knowledge,” says Maureen Scanlan, the hospital’s vice president of nursing and patient care. “It’s a loss when that level of knowledge retires. They can remain with us in different capacities. It may not be in the role they’ve retired from, but they all become mentors.”
