(The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are
his own.)
By Mark Miller
CHICAGO, May 22 (Reuters) – Career change often begins with
a jolting disruption, like a job loss, a health problem or
family issues.
For Becky Loyacano, 57, change began with one of the worst
disasters in U.S. history. When Hurricane Katrina destroyed
Loyacano’s home in Slidell, Louisiana in 2005, it also crushed
the New Orleans native’s work selling disability insurance.
“After Katrina, there was no job because there were no
accounts to go call on,” she says.
Following the storm, Loyacano moved twice, but despite her
experience in insurance sales and as a buyer and manager for a
sporting goods retailer, the recession made finding work a
challenge – especially as an older worker.
Still, Loyacano’s story has a happy ending, and highlights a
solution to a critical issue facing the country: How to help
older workers stay on the job.
Participating in a three-year initiative in 10 cities that
offered strategies for supporting older workers, Loyacano found
new work through a plan that placed workers in paid temporary
internships. The program, which allowed workers to try new jobs
while gaining experience and education, is a model that could be
replicated in other parts of the country.
Working longer is one of the most effective ways to boost
retirement income, reduces reliance on nest-egg funds, and
allows more contributions to retirement accounts and higher
monthly Social Security income through delayed filing. Indeed,
staying employed longer will be more important if retirement
benefits like Social Security and Medicare are reduced.
Meanwhile, the nation’s labor force is getting grayer by the
day, and more older Americans are also remaining employed.
Last year, 20 percent of workers were 55 or older, up from
12 percent in 1996, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics data by The Urban Institute released last week.
A nd about 17.9 percent of people aged 65 and over were employed
in 2011, up from 10.8 percent in 1985, according to the AARP
Public Policy Institute.
CHALLENGES
These workers face steep challenges in the labor market.
Although those over 55 have enjoyed lower-than-average jobless
rates (6.3 percent in April compared with an 8.1 percent
national average), those who do lose their jobs are out of work
much longer (60 weeks for workers over 55, compared with 38.5
weeks for younger workers).
Loyacano found help through an Indiana workforce agency that
was participating in a national initiative. Funded by the U.S.
Department of Labor, the Aging Workforce Initiative (AWI) issued
a total of $10 million of grants to 10 non-profit and state-run
workforce agencies to help them train older workers and connect
them to jobs in high-growth, high-demand industries.
The AWIs also had technical assistance from the Council for
Adult and Experiential Learning, a non-profit organization that
provides adults with learning assistance and career guidance.
The AWI projects, wrapping up this year, suggest there are
practical ways to help older workers reboot their careers.
Some experimented with reverse job fairs, in which
jobseekers are in the booths and employers make the rounds to
interview them; others used websites to match mature jobseekers
with prospective employers. Several trained “career navigators”
to update older workers on current job-market realities.
Lafayette, Indiana-based Tecumseh Area Partnership (TAP),
which aided Loyacano, combined its internship program with a
“career transition hub” offering weekly job-hunting classes and
support. The sessions included networking, online job hunting
and using volunteer help to build resumes.
The TAP initiative has served more than 330 job seekers,
largely in their late 50s or early 60s, and placed more than 60
percent in paid full or part-time jobs. The internship program
has a 50 percent success rate.
TAP’s internships target high-growth industries in the
Lafayette area, including advanced manufacturing, information
technology, health care and transportation logistics. The goal
is to help older workers explore new career options, burnish
their resumes and to ultimately land new positions.
FRESH OPTIONS
“We’ve had some people who felt the need to change their
careers, and some who already had worked in a given field but
wanted to learn new skills,” says Susan Perkins, TAP’s strategic
initiatives manager.
Loyacano decided to pursue a new career in health care and
secured a grant to take classes in medical practice management.
She found a valuable four-month paid internship at a local
neurology practice, which later led to a full-time position.
For Loyacano, the neurology internship marked a critical
turning point in her career transition.
“It was a great educational experience and confidence
builder,” she says. “Going into an internship, you don’t know
how you’ll feel in a work environment.”
All told, the average cost for placing each of 18 TAP
interns worked out to $5,320. While that might sound steep, it’s
money well spent against the backdrop of a looming
retirement-security crisis facing many baby boomers.
(Editing by Chelsea Emery and Bernadette Baum)
