How not to lose the baby boomers from workforce?

[FIREd]

I attended a company organised talk on Ageing Population and its impact on companies. There was no surprise on the findings - the usual suspects of skills disappearing with baby boomers who are retiring. However, I was disappointed that the talk did not touch on what my company would do to encourage people to work longer. It wasn't that they did not care, they seemed to realise that this is a big problem and wanted the experienced staff to work longer. I guess if firms have a set of benefits or priorities for the "older" staff, it could be deemed discrimination. I don't think I would have resigned yet, if there were some arrangements of entitlement of taking 6 to 12 months sabbatical for employees who reach 50 and have been with the firm for a specified number of years. That would have worked for me. Is there anything your firm could have done to encourage you to work a few more years?

Unfortunately, I have seen too often how older, more experienced workers are usually the first ones to get the boot when a company downsizes. And those older workers often have a heck of a time finding an employer willing to give them another chance at a stable, well paid job.

Nowadays, companies seem more focused on quickly adding a few bucks to the bottom line by getting rid first of the highest earners (often older folks) rather than retaining knowledge and skills long term.

If my firm wants me to work longer, then it has to completely change the way it does business. When I go to work in the morning, I want to actually do real work. I don't want to waste time on office politics and the rumor mill, I don't want to spend half my day in endless meetings (high on talk and self-promotion, low on productivity) and I don't want to spend time on something that HR cooked up just for the heck of it (required Powerpoint training when I have used it for 15 years, team building exercises, month-long evaluations, retreats...). Then my firm would be a good place to spend 8 hours a day.

 

[Rustic23]

The Air Force is a little different than the other services. Their is a direct civilian match for AF pilots. I remember a meeting with a General Officer and the subject came up about letting pilots have a separate career path. One that did not include command. Like their civilian counter part, the would come in, fly, and go home. While this would not work for the fighter pilots and direct combat support pilots, it works for just about all others. The General's answer was 'Well we hear that from the young guys, but we know as they get older that's not what they want.' Case Closed.

Well I for one, would still be flying if they would let me fly like an airline pilot, and I would venture there are a lot more like me.

 

[HFWR]

There was no career path, per se, for wafer [-]bitches[/-] technicians, except if you impressed the management, you'd get good raises, and job grade increases. Then. of course, one day they'd look around and say "how come you make so much money", at which time they'd attach the bullseye to your shirt...