We get a flood of information around the topic of boomer workers and the changing workplace. This week we found a few stories that support our view that the large number of boomers are still working calls for a rethinking. How businesses will engage with older workers and what our generation can contribute in a ‘mixed’ workplace.
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Baby Boomers Booming as Gig Workers
Workforce Magazine reports that the largest demographic of workers in the ‘gig economy’ are baby boomers. They have more control over their world under the arrangements afforded by the likes of Uber, Task Rabbit or simply doing contract work on their own. Marion McGovern, author of ‘Thriving in the Gig Economy’ notes:
A lot of people, especially boomers, will be independent consultants and work gig to gig, but they won’t identify themselves as part of the gig world.
Read the full article: Baby Boomers Booming as Gig Workers
Big Changes Ahead For Baby Boomer Workers
Richard Eisenberg, Editor of the Money and Work channel at NextAvenue.org, writes in Forbes that there will be significant disruption in the workforce over the next 10 years. Citing a Bain & Company study Labor 2030: The Collision of Demographics, Automation and Inequality he believes a looming worker shortage could propel organizations to rethink their approach to seasoned employees and in hiring practices.
ndrew Schwedel, a partner in Bain & Company’s New York Office and head of the firm’s Macro Trends Group, which published the study is quoted:
Age discrimination by employers, Schwedel said, won’t disappear, but it will change. “You may not see employers offering older workers traditional employment. We’ll be seeing the rise of more part-timers and independent contractors.”
The ability to work longer will be a huge help to many Americans in their 60s without enough retirement savings to let them live out their longer lives in comfort. Bain’s dire view: as things stand now, only about the top 20% of older households are likely to have enough savings to support a traditional retirement. The Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis just came out with an even gloomier report, saying that 40% of older workers and their spouses will be “downwardly mobile” in retirement.
Read the full article: The Big Changes Ahead For Boomer Workers
Next Avenue is a recommended information source from Next For Me. We like their style and that they are branching out to podcasting and these series in Forbes.
Next Avenue is public media’s national journalism service for America’s booming 50+ population. Part of the PBS system, Next Avenue’s daily content delivers vital ideas, context and perspectives on issues that matter most as we age.
Learning The Ropes Later in Life
Next For Me Advisor, and Airbnb’s Strategic Advisor for Hospitatlity and Leadership, Chip Conley authored an essay for the Milken Institute’s ‘Business of Aging’ report. Continuing with his notion of a ‘Modern Elder’ the article presents the idea,
With millenials excelling at ‘digital intelligence’ but often lacking life experience and ’emotional intelligence,’ Airbnb’s Chip Conley makes a case for intergenerational learning and the crucial role the “Modern Elder” can play in the workplace.
He makes a case for intergenerational learning and the crucial role the Modern Elder can play in the workplace.
Chip’s book on the topic will be published on September 18, 2018 from Crown
Read the full article: Learning The Ropes Later in Life
