Retiring boomers expected to leave huge void in work force

In two years of retirement, Shirley Spencer, 67, relished the freedom to travel, shape up through exercise classes, watch lots of cable news and read books "like mad."

But now, it's time to get back to work, she said.


		Meryl Schenker / P-I
	A couple of years in retirement were enough for Shirley Spencer, 67, of Lynnwood, searching for a job in education at a fair at the Seattle Center on Wednesday.

So, she donned a snazzy pink raincoat Wednesday and drove from Lynnwood to the Seattle Center for the Mature Workers Alliance Job and Resource Fair, held for people older than 50.

"I did the grandmother thing," said Spencer, a former director in Idaho's Department of Education. "I have not been the kind of person who just longed to retire."

Although aging workers often require more flexible hours and greater benefits than younger ones, businesses need people such as Spencer to rejoin the work force to prevent a labor shortage as soon as 2010, according to the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County, which sponsored the fair.

Nationwide, about 330 people will turn 60 every hour in 2006, adding up to almost 8,000 people per day, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That, coupled with a declining birth rate, is expected to create a crisis for businesses if they don't learn how to adapt to the needs of older employees.

King County's education industry stands to be the most affected because almost half of employees are older than 45, according to the council's most recent report. The maritime industry could also take a hit in the next decade, according to Kris Stadelman, the council's chief executive officer.

"Blue-collar jobs are really changing. Fewer skilled workers look into them," Stadelman said. "Everybody used to hope that their son would be an electrician or a carpenter."

Not anymore. Today, young people see manufacturing as "dirty, dark and dangerous," she said. "They all want to be Microsoft millionaires."

That's great news for Microsoft Corp., but could spell trouble for the manufacturing sector's bottom lines.

"We are starting to feel the crunch," said Sally Hass, a benefits education manager at Weyerhaeuser Co., which did not have a booth at the fair. "We're trying to get a better handle of who might go when. That's a challenge in itself."

The world's biggest lumber company, based in Federal Way, has 50,000 employees, with about 6,000 in Washington. The average age of a Weyerhaeuser employee is about 44, and many are third-generation workers, Hass said.

"We're trying to figure out what we're going to do to help people stay with us longer and let them go gradually," she said.

One solution is to bring back older workers on a contract basis, Stadelman said.

Another solution: Encourage employees to stick around. Many 50- and 60-somethings would prefer to stay on the job, but businesses have to adapt to their needs. To engage businesses, the council launched a Web site Wednesday about the needs of an aging work force, which offers a quiz, "Is your company mature worker friendly?"


		Meryl Schenker / P-I
	Li Guangliang, 73, of Issaquah speaks with Nordstrom employment specialist Laura Hills at the job fair.

According to an informal survey of job fair attendees, many of Seattle's 50-and-over crowd isn't ready to leave the work force just yet.

"You want to stay connected to the larger world," said John Belikiewicz, a 60-year-old airline reservations agent who lives on Capitol Hill. "I'm just not ready to stop working."

John Thomson, 55, worked in the men's suits department at Nordstrom until his recent back surgery. He can't stand on his feet all day, but still wants to work. He said he offers his bosses a stronger work ethic than his younger counterparts.

"I'm too young to retire," Thomson said.

Many older workers request part-time work and are generally more reliable than 18-year-olds, said Victoria Eldridge, human resource manager at The Home Depot on Aurora Avenue. The company seeks out older salespeople because they appeal to senior shoppers, she said.

Plus, "40 is the new 30," Eldridge said.

But not all employers share Eldridge's sentiment.

"There is age discrimination; it's tough for some people to get a job -- to stay in the job market," said Nora Norminton, project director in Seattle with the AARP Foundation Senior Community Service Employment Program. "A number of folks we work with don't have computer skills. That's the bread and butter today."

More than 300 job seekers attended Wednesday's fair featuring about 45 employers, colleges and head-hunting firms, according to Laurie Black of the work force council.

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