The Potential Benefits of Hiring Seniors and Retirees

Because of a number of demographic and economic factors, many Americans are choosing to continue working well past what has been considered the traditional retirement age. This trend is good news for businesses in search of employees: Retirees and seniors often possess traits and job skills that can make them excellent employees.

Volatile financial markets, which have dinged many people’s retirement nest eggs, and the simple fact that Americans are living longer than ever mean that nest eggs must last longer and retirees have more days and time to fill. Even those who have already retired are re-entering the workforce for financial security or to stave off boredom.

Studies conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons found that older workers ranked higher than their younger counterparts in the following areas:

• Reliability and a strong work ethic: This includes punctuality, maturity, a willingness and eagerness to learn, and a strong commitment to quality.
• Varied work experience: Many seniors and retirees have a broad-based career background, which enables them to bring a wide variety of experience to their roles.
• Lower absenteeism: Contrary to popular belief, older employees usually have excellent attendance records because they rarely miss work for the myriad personal and family reasons that younger and middle-age workers often do.
• More job loyalty: Another myth about seniors and retirees is that they won’t stay on the job for very long. They tend to be much less likely than younger workers to job hop and look for other opportunities for relatively insignificant pay raises.
• Eagerness to learn new skills and a positive attitude: Still another misconception about seniors is that they are hesitant or even resistant to learn new technologies and ways of doing things. Some studies have shown that seniors and retirees are among the fastest growing demographic of social media users and online communities as well as adoptors of new technologies such as laptop and tablet PCs and handheld devices.
• Strong people and customer service skills: While this is obviously not true of every individual, as a group, seniors and retirees tend to interact well with customers and their co-workers due to their many years of experience in resolving conflict and working with others.

One often overlooked benefit of hiring seniors and retirees is that they can actually help you save on health insurance costs because many of them receive Medicare benefits. Also, seniors and retirees tend to use fewer medical services than some other age groups; parents with young children, for example, are the most frequent users of medical benefits.

Keep in mind that managing seniors and retirees is different from managing other generations of employees. Young Generation X and Gen Y employees, for example, tend to be highly motivated by public praise and tokens of appreciation, while older workers usually have lower expectations for public feedback and rewards.

Also, younger workers tend to put more emphasis on work-life balance, while many more mature workers have a “whatever it takes” attitude to getting the job done and may frown on younger co-workers who leave at 5 o’clock if the work isn’t finished yet. Remember these differences as you form work teams, and make sure the lines of communication remain open to minimize the chances of misunderstandings and conflicts.