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October 20, 2007
Jerry Kearney retired in 2001 but knew that wasn't going to last long.
What he didn't realize, however, was that when he returned to the work force about three months later he was going to have to catch up with the computer age.
"I had to figure out power points and all that stuff," Kearney, 71, said with a laugh.
Neil Charness, a professor in the psychology department and at the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy at Florida State University, has spent a career studying the older work force. Charness will deliver the keynote at next week's Aging in the Workplace conference at The Ranch.
Charness, in a telephone interview, said the biggest challenge facing the older generation attempting to get back into the work force is working with computers, especially if they have no experience in that area.
"And as we get older, we slow down, we learn slower. So even for those who have experience with word processing software, for example, it will take them longer to learn a new software program," Charness said.
Kearney, who spent a career in human resources, said he took a month off and traveled to Costa Rica after his retirement, but then returned part-time to the work force at the Weld Area Agency on Aging. The work, he said, is enjoyable and provides additional income to Social Security and a small retirement package.
"I work with a lot of 20- and 30-year-olds and I enjoy being around all that energy," Kearney said. "My advice to those retiring is to stay active whether it be with part-time work or volunteering."
Helen Clark, 78, has lived in Greeley since 1958. In 1996, she was laid off her job at EFTC, a Greeley electronics company that has since moved out-of-state. She had been the company's receptionist for six years. For the next three years, she cared for her ill husband, but when he died, she had bills to pay and needed employment.
She found that was not easy, but then she met Pete Archuleta at Weld Employment Services.
"He must have seen something in me and got me the job," Clark said. Her job with the Weld Area Agency on Aging includes everything from office duties to working with senior nutrition programs.
She has no immediate plans of leaving the full-time job.
"I'm just going to keep working until I can't do it anymore," she said.
Charness said an advantage of the older person going back into the work force is the breadth of knowledge compared to a younger person.
"If that knowledge is related to the job they are seeking, that is a definite help," Charness said.
FSU has a senior academy and Charness said enrollment in that academy has increased this year to 225 from 150 last year, but he said he's not sure how many of those are enrolled for enjoyment versus how many might be there to increase skills.
"There's a lot who may be semi-retired who are looking for part-time work. I think we are seeing a lot of that," Charness said. And, he added, research indicates that older workers, 55 years and older, are happier in their work, and they are under less stress than younger workers.
"The percentage who are happier and are under less stress increases with age. The older the worker, the more they enjoy what they are doing," he said.
Older workers
There are 523 workers who are 55 years old or older seeking employment through Weld Employment Services.
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