Resources - Mature Market Headlines

65. And Still Going.

The Boston Globe, 6/1/08

Abstract:

Al Almeida retired years ago. He just never stopped working. In 1994, he signed off from a quarter-century career with Raytheon Co. Three jobs later, the 72-year-old roams the aisles at Borders in Kingston, where he has been selling books part time for about six years. The way Almeida sees it, he is doing more than promoting products. "It's important that people here know I'm carrying my share of the load. Unless your job description says `elder statesman,' forget about it," he says. "Older workers can't feed stereotypes. You know, standing around talking about how good the old times were. Who wants to hear that? You come in and work. And you work hard."

People doing the hiring these days, from retail to healthcare to utilities, are counting on that kind of ethic to spread like a celebrity rumor. They need employees to stay on the payroll past the traditional - and increasingly irrelevant - retirement age of 65. Maybe way past. Academics who burrow into the demographics and trends can rattle off enough statistics to make a sportstrivia junkie woozy, but the numbers can be pared to this: As baby boomers make an exodus from employment ranks over the next two decades, there will not be enough Generation Xers to take their places. Last year, an estimated 61.1 million boomers worked nationwide, compared with 54.7 million from Gen X, according to the Boston College Center on Aging & Work. The employment gap could be gaping in states like Massachusetts - already the 12th oldest in the United States - where population growth has flatlined and shows no signs of reviving. A report by the Center on Aging & Work and AARP estimated that about 40 percent of Massachusetts residents will be at least 50 years old two years from now.

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