Motivating Retired Workers Returning to Work Term Paper

Motivating Retired Workers Returning to Work - Term Paper Example According to Salatzar (1993), the retired workers have less ambition than the young workers and therefore are comfortable in the position they work for. Therefore these workers prove to be an asset for the company. Pearsall, a retired worker who rejoined the workforce have mentioned that experience in diverse subjects have assisted him to return to the workforce easily. However Cassidy, vice president for Concurrent Computers have mentioned that the biggest advantage of recruiting retired workers is that they have prior knowledge of the situation. Therefore if the situation happens to be something out of the usual the retired worker will have a higher chance of having prior experience about such situations and will be more at ease to handle the problem. There are several companies like Concurrent Computers that have preferred retired workers in their labor force. It is also necessary for many of the countries like United States to retain the aged people to their workforce because of their demographic nature. In 2002 the number of old people working or seeking work in United States was 62.9%. This is a result of the average age of the country which is very high. Apart from the need that arises due to the shortage in the workforce there is also a need of the retired people due to their expertise and skills in their profession. Moreover the average life span of the population in the developed countries has increased substantially and many people in the retiring age are perfectly healthy to work. Under such circumstances many of the companies and policy makers are looking for ideas to attract the retired workers back to the workforce. Motivations for the Retired Person Estimation by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics show that more than one fourth of the country’s labor force would reach their age of retirement in 2010. This would lead to a huge shortfall in the labor force. Another estimate by the United States Census Bureau suggests that 73% of t he people in the population will have the age 55 or higher in 2020. It also suggests that the increase in the number of young workers in the labor force will be only 5% during the same time. Alan Price (2007, p 429) gives an estimate of 25% of the people in the workforce having an age of 50 or more in 2020. According to another statistic in 2030, 20% of the people in the country will have an age of 65 or higher. Under these circumstances it becomes imperative for the country to motivate the retired people back to their profession in order keep the economy going and sustain the targeted growth (Lockwood, 2003, p.3). Entrepreneurial efforts by the older people have doubles chances of success than the young people (Price, 2007, p.429). A survey was conducted by Metlife to comprehend the work pattern of the people after retirement. A number of people explained their motivation to return to the workforce. The survey showed that the motivation for returning to work varied according to age group. According to the people in their late sixties economic reasons were the main motivating factor for joining the workforce. It has often been seen after retirement the investments and the pensions are insufficient for the retired people to sustain their previous standard of living. Along with that perfect working capabilities