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##  The New Meaning of Retirement. ERIC Digest No. 217.                          

The 21st century may be known as the era of lifelong learning and               lifelong working (Longworth 1999). Retirement, the end stage of a               linear working life, may be replaced with a learning, working,                  leisure, working, learning life cycle. In a cyclical living and                 working model, participating in the work force never ceases but is              interspersed with periods of leisure and learning. Full-time work               may be interspersed with periods of flexible working arrangements               such as part-time, seasonal, occasional, and project work (Brown                1998; Dychtwald 1990). The traditional notion of retirement may be              replaced with lifelong working--in various positions and in varying             amounts of time throughout adult life. In the future a declining                birthrate may result in a shortage of skilled and knowledgeable                 employees (Dychtwald 1990), making the notion of retirement for                 older workers a serious drain on organizational productivity.                   Increasing demands for work force productivity, a projected shortage            of skilled and experienced workers, and older adults who are                    healthier and living longer than previous generations are powerful              societal forces shaping future employment practices (Imel                       1996). 
Two decades ago, Sheppard and Rix (1977) forecast the                  changing nature of the workplace and suggested that keeping older               persons in the work force would make sound economic and social                  policy sense. Yet Ginzberg( 1983) raised a most challenging question            by asking to what extent is our society ready to make work for an               increasing number of older adults who choose to remain in the                   workplace while also providing opportunities for young adults: if               employment is not a possibility, then what is our obligation to                 provide adequate financial support? Morrison (1990) noted that                  social policies were needed to encourage and support employers                  retaining older workers. Today the fastest growing segment of the               population is the older adult. Still, the decision to remain or                 leave the workplace is a function of organizational policy (Eastman             1993). This Digest examines this trend and looks at ways adult                  educators can create and sustain working environments supportive of             the needs and capabilities of older workers. NEW PATTERNS OF WORK             FOR OLDER ADULTSThe trend toward longer periods of employment is            beginning to become evident. Forced retirements and early retirement            incentives have contributed to the decline of expertise in the                  workplace. Inflation, increasing health care costs, and inadequate              pensions are propelling older adults to remain in or reenter the                work force past the traditional retirement age (Doeringer 1990;                 Glied and Stabile 1999; Herz 1995). Stein, Rocco, and                           Goldenetz (2000) proposed a model that identifies older workers as              remaining in, retiring from, or returning to the workplace. These               patterns require employers to provide a variety of learning programs            to accommodate these older workers. In this model, retirement as a              permanent separation from work becomes just a temporary                         choice. 
Retirement as permanent separation from the workplace is              being replaced with the idea of bridge employment (Weckerle and                 Shultz 1999). Bridging is a form of partial retirement in which an              older worker alternates periods of disengagement from the workplace             with periods of temporary, part-time, occasional, or self-employed              work. The key aspect of bridging is that it is work in other than a             career job. A career job is a position occupied by a worker for a               substantial portion of the working life in a single setting or with             a single employer (Doeringer 1990). Among workers age 60, more than             50 percent retire from a career job but only one in nine actually               disengages from the workplace (Ruhm 1990; Weckerle and Shultz 1999).            Bridging allows older workers to "practice" retirement, to fill                 labor market shortages, or to try a variety of occupational                     positions after an initial period of retirement. 
Bridging is                  sometimes described as a second career. The American Association of             Retired Persons received 36,000 responses to a working life survey,             covering 375 job titles from workers age 50 plus who had returned to            the workplace after an initial period of retirement (Bird 1994). The            three most frequently cited reasons for returning included having               financial need, liking to work, and keeping busy. However, closer               examination of the data revealed that "financial need" included                 money to help the children as well as to meet basic needs. "Liking              to work" included feeling successful, enjoying the excitement of the            workplace, and making a contribution. "Keeping busy" included                   working with a spouse, staying healthy, or fulfilling a social need.            Reasons cited for remaining or returning to the workplace expressed             the social meaning of work. Ginzberg (1983) proposed that work                  provides income, status, and personal achievement; structures time;             and provides opportunities for interpersonal relationships. In the              study by Stein, Rocco, and Goldenetz (2000), older workers remaining            in or returning to the workplace mentioned not planning wisely, the             need to contribute, appreciation from others, and the desire to                 create something as reasons for not retiring from the workplace.                Work is more than earning a living. It is a way to live. 
To some              extent older workers remain in the workplace because they are                   healthier, cognitively able, and want to remain engaged. In a review            of older worker studies, Rix (1990) concluded that many aging                   workers continue to work at peak efficiency and that there is                   usually much more variation within age groups than among age groups.            Shea (1991) summarized the studies on older workers by pointing out             that "age-related changes in physical ability, cognitive                        performance, and personality have little effect on workers' output              except in the most physically demanding tasks" (p. 153). Farr,                  Tesluk, and Klein (1998) found that there is no consistent                      relationship between age and performance across settings. Among                 faculty in the sciences, age had a slight negative relationship to              publishing productivity (Levin and Stephan 1989). Some studies have             shown a stronger negative relationship between age and work                     performance for nonprofessional and low-level clerical jobs than for            higher-level craft, service, and professional jobs (Avolio, Waldman,            and McDaniel 1990; Waldman and Avolio 1993). 
With declining                   birthrates and an anticipated shortage of new entrants to the work              force, early retirement will become an issue for organizations to               explore in more detail. Organizations will need to assess the                   consequences to profits and productivity of encouraging talented and            wise elders to exit the work force. As a society we need to                     recognize all of the costs of supporting a nonworking population                capable of productive work and living healthier and longer                      lives. 
Organizations need to rethink allocating opportunities to              older workers as well as changing the attitudes and expectations of             managers and younger employees toward an increasing number of older             workers (Greller and Stroh 1995; Hassell and Perrewe 1995; Paul and             Townsend 1993). There is a growing interest among organizations to              reengineer the work environment to account for physiological changes            due to aging (Kupritz 2000) and to reorganize work schedules to                 account for seasonal or contingent labor pools composed of older                workers (Canter 1995). Few positions in our information society                 remain static and do not require some type of education. Education              and job redesign are the means by which the older segment of the                community can enter, reenter, and advance in the workplace. ADULT             EDUCATION IMPLICATIONSThis inquiry suggests that older workers              are situated in a dynamic pattern of periods of active employment,              disengagement from the workplace, and reentry into the same or a new            career. Older workers exhibit different work patterns at different              stages. The workplace becomes a dynamic space for older workers                 rather than a unidirectional journey leading to retirement. An adult            education perspective for the third stage of working life--beyond               the traditional retirement age--will view the older worker as an                active agent negotiating various roles within the workspace. The                roles, depending on life circumstances, might include the decision              to remain in, retire from, or return to periods of part-time,                   full-time, or part-season work. These work choice patterns will                 challenge adult educators to develop training, career development,              and organizational development strategies appropriate to a third                stage of working life (Jessup and Greenberg 1989). 
An aging and               changing work force may cause us to reexamine and revalue the                   meaning and necessity of work for older workers. An aging work force            might influence workplace cultures and values in ways that change               our notions of the meaning and necessity of work. A workplace that              blends training opportunities, flexible employment patterns, and                policies supportive of the life needs of an aging work force may                become a workplace that embraces older workers as capable,                      productive, and knowledgeable lifelong workers. Older workers will              need organizational and social supports to encourage the extension              of the work life (Bailey and Hansson 1995). 
An investigation of               the meaning of work in the lives of older workers is fertile ground             for adult educators. Adult educators might explore learning-teaching            approaches that are more effective for providing career guidance to             older adults making transitions to part-time work, returning from               periods of retirement, or contemplating leaving the work force.                 Flexible schedules, job sharing, reduced loads, and seasonal                    employment may be redefined in the context of a changing and aging              work force. Notions of full-time, part-time and career work--usually            applied to workers aged 18-65--may need to be reexamined in light of            employees working beyond the eighth decade of life. 
Older workers             represent a rich source of experience, accumulated knowledge, and               wisdom. The quality and sensitivity of an institution's program for             counseling, training, retraining, and preparing older workers for               life and career transition might be the means by which organizations            recruit and retain valued and productive                                        workers. REFERENCESAvolio, B. J.; Waldman, D. A.; and                     McDaniel, M. A. "Age and Work Performance in Nonmanagerial Jobs: The            Effects of Experience and Occupational Type." ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT             JOURNAL 32 (1990): 407-422. 
Bailey, L., and Hansson,                          R. "Psychological Obstacles to Job or Career Change in Late Life."              JOURNAL OF GERONTOLOGY 50 (1995): 280-293. 
Bird, C. SECOND                    CAREERS. NEW WAYS TO WORK AFTER 50. Boston: Little, Brown and                   Company, 1994. 
Brown, B. L. PART-TIME WORK AND OTHER FLEXIBLE                 OPTIONS. ERIC DIGEST NO. 192. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on               Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, 1998. (ED 418                          247) 
Canter, S. "Recruiting, Training, Managing Older Workers:                Case Studies." In TEXTBOOK AUTHORS' CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, pp.               85-89. Meeting of the American Association of Retired Persons,                  Washington, DC, October 27, 1995. 
Doeringer, P. BRIDGES TO                    RETIREMENT: OLDER WORKERS IN A CHANGING LABOR MARKET. Ithaca, NY:               ILR Press, 1990. 
Dychtwald, K. AGE WAVE. New York: Bantam Books,              1990. 
Eastman, L. J. "Retirement Revisited: Extending the                     Work-Life of Older Americans." HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY             4, no. 4 (Winter 1993): 409-414. 
Farr, J. L.; Tesluk, P. E.; and              Klein, S. R. "Organizational Structure of the Workplace and the                 Older Worker." In IMPACT OF WORK ON OLDER ADULTS, edited by K. W.               Schaie and C. Schooler, pp. 143-185. New York: Springer,                        1998. 
Ginzberg, E. "Life without Work: Does It Make Sense?" In                POLICY ISSUES IN WORK AND RETIREMENT, edited by H. S. Parnes, pp.               29-38. Kalamazoo, MI: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment                     Research, 1983. (ED 232 024) 
Glied, S., and Stabile, M. "Covering             Older Americans: Forecast for the Next Decade." HEALTH AFFAIRS 18,              no. 1 (January-February 1999): 208-213. 
Greller, M. M., and Stroh,            L. K. "Careers in Mid-life and Beyond: A Fallow Field in Need of                Sustenance." JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL BEHAVIOR 47, no. 3 (December                 1995): 232-247. (EJ 514 362) 
Hassell, B. L., and Perrewe, P.                  L. "An Examination of Beliefs about Older Workers: Do Stereotypes               Still Exist?" JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 16, no.                        5 (September 1995): 457-468. 
Herz, D. "Work after Early                       Retirement: An Increasing Trend among Men." MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW                118, no. 4 (April 1995): 13-20. (EJ 502 533) 
Imel, S. OLDER                   WORKERS. MYTHS AND REALITIES. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on               Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, 1996. (ED 392                          894) 
Jessup, D., and Greenberg, B.. "Innovative Older-Worker                  Programs." GENERATIONS 13, no. 3 (Summer 1989): 23-27. (EJ 393                  204) 
Kupritz, V. "Maximizing Opportunities for the Aging Workforce            through Workplace Design." In ACADEMY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT             2000 CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS, RALEIGH-DURHAM, NC, MARCH 8-12, 2000,              edited by K. P. Kuchinke, pp. 101-110. Baton Rouge, LA: Academy of              Human Resource Development, 2000. 
Levin, S. G., and Stephan, P.               E. "Age and Research Productivity of Academic Scientists." RESEARCH             IN HIGHER EDUCATION 30, no. 5 (October 1989): 531-549. (EJ 404                  056) 
Longworth, N. MAKING LIFELONG LEARNING WORK: LEARNING CITIES             FOR A LEARNING CENTURY. London, England: Kogan Page,                            1999. 
Morrison, M. "Early Retirement and the Middle-aged: Future              Worklife Options in the United States." In RETHINKING WORKLIFE                  OPTIONS FOR OLDER PERSONS, edited by J. Habib and C. Nusberg.                   Washington, DC: International Federation on Ageing, 1990. (ED 341               803) 
Paul, R., and Townsend, J. "Managing the Older Worker--Don't             Just Rinse away the Gray." ACADEMY OF EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 7 (1993):            67-74. 
Rix, S. E. "Older Workers." In CHOICES AND CHALLENGES: AN              OLDER ADULT REFERENCE SERIES, edited by E. Vierck. Santa Barbara,               CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1990. 
Ruhm, C. "Bridge Jobs and Partial                   Retirement." JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS 8 (1990): 482-501. 
Shea,              G. F. MANAGING OLDER EMPLOYEES. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,                     1991. 
Sheppard, H., and Rix, S. THE GRAYING OF WORKING AMERICA:               THE COMING CRISIS IN RETIREMENT-AGE POLICY. New York: Free Press,               1977. 
Stein, D.; Rocco, T. S.; and Goldenetz, K. A. "Age and the              University Workplace. A Case Study of Remaining, Retiring, or                   Returning Older Workers." HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY 11,              no. 1 (Spring 2000): 61-80. 
Waldman, D. A., and Avolio, B.                    J. "Aging and Work Performance in Perspective: Contextual and                   Development Considerations." RESEARCH IN PERSONNEL AND HUMAN                    RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 11 (1993): 133-162. 
Weckerle, K. A., and                  Shultz, S. "Influences on Bridge Employment Decisions among Older               USA Workers." JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 72, no. 3 (1999):              317-329. 
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This project has been funded at least in part                with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under                  Contract No. ED-99-CO-0013. The content of this publication does not            necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of             Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or              organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Digests may             be freely reproduced and are available at                                       http://ericacve.org/fulltext.asp.                                            **Title:** The New Meaning of Retirement. ERIC Digest No. 217.                          **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** Center on Education and Training for Employment, 1900 Kenny Rd.,                Columbus, OH 43210. For full text:                                              http://www.ericacve.org/fulltext.asp.                                        **Descriptors:**  Adult Education, Education Work Relationship,  Educational Needs,              Educational Research, Educational Trends, Employer Employee                     Relationship,  Futures (of Society),  Older Adults, Postsecondary               Education, Research Needs,  Retirement,  Work Attitudes                      **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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