New cohorts of workers in their 50s and 60s are also reshaping notions of retirement. The 79 million aging baby boomers will no doubt rewrite the scripts of later adulthood. The Changing Employment Contract A striking trend confronting the contemporary work force is the new employment relationship between workers and their employers. Now this contract is disappearing. Fewer workers can count on guaranteed job security, regardless of their occupational status.
Workers increasingly feel like free agents, having to chart their own career paths.
Correspondingly, fewer workers now offer total loyalty to their employers. This change in the employment contract in part came about in response to the increasing incidence of mergers and job restructuring resulting in downsizing that began in earnest for white-collar workers in the 1980s, often resulting from corporate decisions to reduce labor costs. Others not targeted for downsizing but eligible for early retirement understandably elect to take advantage of these incentives as well. Since the employment contract has changed, workers see the need to navigate their way through a series of jobs throughout their adulthood. Fewer and fewer workers can count on secure, upwardly mobile lifetime jobs with a single employer.