Older Adults Are Willing to Work, But Will They Be Wanted?

It’s clear that more and more older adults will be willing to work past traditional retirement age in the coming years.

What’s less clear is this: Will they be wanted?

A post by Mary Cronin on LinkedIn brought this question to mind a few weeks ago. Mary’s post highlighted recent studies that showed increases in the number of Americans who expect to work past age 65 — or, in some cases, to never retire.

On average, the younger the respondent, the later in life they expect to work.

“When asked whether it’s likely they will need to work past retirement age to finance a longer life, a resounding 78% of Millennials responded ‘yes,’ followed by 52% of Boomers and Gen-Xers,” Mary wrote.

So there’s an obvious willingness to work later in life — much of it stemming from a feeling that they’ll need the money, but also coming from a desire to stay engaged in the world, pursue a passion, or fulfill some larger purpose.

Are employers and society at large ready for this? I’m not so sure. Ageism and ageist stereotypes often prevent companies from hiring workers they perceive as “older.” Older workers within companies have to fight harder for promotions or to avoid involuntary retirement, as well. Many of us expect older adults to step down or step aside when they reach a certain age, too.

It’s frustrating, especially when we see labor shortages persist across many industries. The largest untapped workforce in America today is adults between the ages of 55 and 85.

How do we make change here? It will take effort at all levels of society, but I think it’s important to make sure young people are a part of the effort.

When I speak to graduate and undergraduate students, I tell them something like this:

“You have the most at stake in issues involving aging. Why? Because you are far more likely to live longer than I am.

“And you have time to change these societal attitudes. They’re not going to change in time for me. But they can for you — and they will have to if you don’t want to be consigned to social, cultural and economic irrelevance at age 65 or even 75, when you may live till 97.”