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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Career Change vs. Retirement

These days, the answer to the age-old question adults ask children,What do you want to be when you grow up?,may garner some surprises. Rather than give a single answer, such as wanting to be a cop, an astronaut or President of the United States, today’s children are likely to name three careers they want to pursue. And the children may have got it right. It’s estimated that the average American will have at least three careers in their lifetime. “You’re not stuck in one career any more,” said David Kearse, head of Experience Unlimited in Canoga Park, a job-service program of California’s Economic Development Department. “It’s possible to have several careers, depending on your skill set.” Experience Unlimited is a program for those 40 and over, earning more than $40,000 annually, who seek to make career changes. Kearse, who is over 60, has worked in a number of fields, including marketing, journalism, theater and screenwriting. That he is not an anomaly is due to the many older Americans changing careers. National Employ Older Workers Week, observed since 1959 in California, was celebrated from Sept. 23 to Sept. 29. During the week, speakers at various events emphasized a U.S. Bureau of Labor report indicating that one in five American workers will be 55 or older by 2015, and that companies now recognize a pool of experienced workers from which to draw. “Older workers are a valuable resource, and keeping them employed strengthens Los Angeles County’s workforce,” said Cynthia Banks, who oversees the L.A. County Workforce Investment Board and the Older Americans Act. The reasons why older Americans make up a large employee pool are varied, experts say. L.A. County and Merrill Lynch, which last year conducted a survey about employers and older workers, both cited the “new retirement,” a reference to older Americans who delay leaving the workforce. “A lot of them decide that they want to stay in the workforce,” explained Christine Duque of the marketing department of staffing firm Apple One. “They want to continue working. It’s driven as much by that fact that people who are [older] now are a lot more vital [than their counterparts were] decades ago.” Another factor is that many baby boomers, the oldest of whom turn 61 this year, feel that they can’t adequately support themselves on their pensions. It’s a story that Dr. Warren Washington, chief academic officer for the Southern California campus of the University of Phoenix, has heard repeatedly. Many individuals are back in college because they can’t retire due to financial issues, Washington said. Even those who have yet to reach retirement are deciding to switch careers or re-enter the career world because they are concerned about the economy. “We’re trying to be career consultants [to the experienced worker], especially since 2001 when the economy started to get more challenging for everyone,” Duque said. But there’s more to the trend. Longer life expectancies and better medical treatment have made it possible for people who, in the past, would have had no choice but to leave the workforce, make career changes. At Apple One and at Women at Work, a Pasadena-based program that serves both the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, efforts are in place to reach experienced workers. Apple One launched a program called Rehirement. “We have a lot of people who want to ease into the workforce as clerical or administrative workers, so we make sure that when they do join the workforce, they’ve been given some training,” Duque said. Women at Work executive director Robin McCarthy said their goal is to serve those seeking to switch careers and those re-entering the workplace. “We service women who are looking to move or transition to another career a homemaker or mother back into the workplace,” McCarthy said. “It may be someone coming out of a longtime career, a teacher looking to go into another type of profession.” Some people, meanwhile, are changing careers to do what they always wanted. Instead of toiling endlessly in a job for which they are ill-suited, workers are being encouraged to pursue their dreams. After leaving the workforce to tend to her ailing mother, middle-aged Reseda resident Ursula Reeg is doing private consulting until she finds full-time work. Over the years, she has developed an expertise in sales, training and marketing. By participating in Experience Unlimited events, Reeg has been able to explore different career paths. “I have rediscovered my ability for the staffing industry,” she said. Reeg is also considering pursuing work in the insurance industry. “My goal is to focus and come up with a conclusion as to what field I want to go into.” Northridge resident Paul Tipon, also active in Experience Unlimited, decided to re-enter the workforce this year after being retired for two years. Like Reeg and Kearse, he has made more than a few career transitions, working in aerospace, sales and marketing, and the financial and technical industries. These days, he said, “I’m pursuing just about anything.” Learning to Accommodate Older Workers Can Have Other Advantages – Older workers may not only solve labor shortage issues but also enhance a company’s ability to relate to customers. – A more flexible suite of compensation and benefit programs may be as effective in retaining today’s workers as it is in attracting the graduating class of 2011. – New avenues to increase productivity and reduce costs may be uncovered. – Ways to effectively manage a multigenerational workforce may also be discovered. Source: Merrill Lynch

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