Experienced Workers to Seek Greener Pastures in 2016

Published in the Pawtuket Times on January 25, 2016

In 2016, you can likely expect to see an increasing number of experienced workers seeking new employment. According to the recently released AARP survey, making “more money” was the key motivator for 74 percent of the survey respondents.

“The economy may be doing better these days,” said AARP Senior Vice President Jean Setzfand. “But a lot of workers are still worried about their paychecks. While our survey, which included many Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, found most people looking want more money, we also found a wide variety of reasons for their job search rationale.”

Looking for Greener Pastures

The “Experience in Work” survey (with its findings detailed in a 47 page report released this ), conducted for AARP’s new career website, aarp.org/work, finds that of the approximately 4 in ten inclined to seek new work this year, 23% are either extremely or very likely to try to find a new job this year, and another 16% say that they are somewhat likely to job-seek during that period.

Researchers say that respondents, ages 35 to 64, cite career growth potential (21%), better work flexibility (25%), more enjoyable work (30%), as well as better health benefits (28%) as reasons they plan to seek new employment this year.

Added Setzfand: “Things are so fluid that many of those likely to switch jobs this year say they do not expect to stay in the same industry. An even larger group of job searchers do not know what type of business they will end up in at all.”

The 10-minute, online, unbranded survey (a nationally represented sample of 1,291) conducted by Phi Power Communications, Inc., found that that experienced workers who are already looking for a new job say the tools most commonly used in their search are online listings (62%), personal contacts (40%), and company career listings (33%).

Most of those surveyed (62%) are currently employed, and a solid majority (66%) have been in the same job for at least five years, pointing up the need for likely job seekers to update their skills.

Meanwhile, experienced workers are willing to take the leap outside of their job sector. A quarter (24%) of those likely to switch companies say that they do not expect to remain in the same industry. An even larger percentage (42%) do not even know what type of business they will end up in.

But, finding new a new job is not a piece of cake. Age discrimination (42%) is listed as the biggest obstacle to gaining a new higher paying job, followed by “not being offered enough money” (37%), a poor regional or local labor market (24 %) and “lack of availability of full-time jobs with benefits” (23%).

According to Kathleen Connell, AARP Rhode Island State Director, the survey findings capture how older workers value their job experience. “They see career growth continuing at 50 rather than experiencing a decline in their value to employers; they believe they bring experience and knowledge to the table that can be leveraged to find flexibility that meets their financial needs and lifestyles; and many, for the first time, may be doing the math and realizing how much health benefits play a factor in their overall compensation,” she says.

While the survey respondent’s attitude reflected in this AARP phone survey seem obvious at age 50, Connell believes that many workers now think this way as they turn sixty years old and they anticipate another decade or more of full-time employment.

Connell adds, “Conversely, one can infer that people are insecure in a fragile economy and a culture of mergers and acquisitions that result in the arbitrary elimination of jobs. So, career flexibility is a means of adapting, if necessary. In Rhode Island, our scale makes it difficult for most people to easily replace a lost job. And therefore, people in their 50s may be looking to advance to new job possibilities before they hear footsteps.

“Still, what the survey may show most clearly is that older workers are looking for a bigger paycheck in order keep pace with inflation and, hopefully, to save more for retirement,” says Connell.

The Secret to Keeping Employee’s satisfied

Edward M. Mazze, Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration at The University of Rhode Island, sees the New England region and the Ocean States Economy slowly improving. Businesses are hiring employees with specific skills, to replace individuals that have either retired or left for new job opportunities, he says, adding that a company’s growth and new technology also create the need to expand and hire new employees.

“The needed skill set and knowledge base for many jobs have changed as a result of the way businesses compete in today’s market-place. Individuals with experience and a willingness to continue to learn will find jobs because they add value to their organizations, adds Mazze.

“Employees are an important asset of an organization no matter what their age or educational background,” says Mazze, noting that this intangible asset does not appear on the balance sheet.

The widely acclaimed economist sees the major challenge companies face today is how to keep their employees satisfied. This goes beyond pay for performance, he notes.

The formula for retaining employees is quite simple, says Mazze. “To build a good workforce, the company must make work interesting, recognize the accomplishments of its employees, provide good working conditions, have a competitive compensation system and an opportunity for the employee to be promoted and continue to learn, he notes.

But, Mazze adds a major key to keeping employees satisfied is the culture of the company and the values of management. “It is not unusual for experienced workers to have five or six job changes in their career – some because of better opportunities and others because of down-sizing and right-sizing companies as a result of economic and financial factors,” he says.

AARP’s website (www.AARP.org/Work) provides useful information, tools and connections to an array of resources. This website includes a job search engine, a list of companies that recognize the value of experienced workers and recruit across diverse age groups, and tips for workers of all experience levels seeking employment or exploring new workplace options.

Herb Weiss, LRI ’12 is a Pawtucket Writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

Kleyman Gives Post Mortem Report on 2015 WHCoA

Published in Woonsocket Call on January 17, 2016

In 1958, Rhode Island Congressman John E. Fogarty, a former bricklayer, introduced legislation calling for a White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) to “promote the dignity, health and economic security of older Americans.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the enacted legislation and the first conference was held in 1961, with subsequent conferences in 1971, 1981, 1995, 2005 and 2015.

Looking back, the 1961 WHCoA played a major role in the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, even the Older Americans Act. Ten years later, the conference’s recommendation’s for automatic cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security ultimately became law in 1975. The founding of the Senate Aging Committee came from recommendations at the 1971 WHCoA.

A Year Marked with Anniversaries

The one-day 2015 WHCoA (usually three days) was actually held at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but with a much smaller assembly than in previous years at Washington hotels, such as in 1995, which had 2,221 delegates and 2005, where about 1,100 selected delegates gathered. But his time, new technologies allowed others to tune in. The White House could only accommodate a few hundred dignitaries.

Over 700 watch parties were held in every state and thousands of people tuned in on Monday, July 13, 2015, to watch the day-long proceedings by live webcast. Over 9,000 people participated, too, through social media on Twitter and Facebook.

But, Paul Kleyman, editor of the Generations Beat Online (GBONews.org), a E-Newsletter for age beat journalist, noted in the Jan. 17, 2016 issue, that this year’s aging conference had no delegate selection process like previous ones. “As we’ve noted previously, though, more than one expert expressed disappointment that the Obama Administration made little effort to muster bipartisan support among GOP congressional members who might well have wanted some representation on the issue going into the 2016 election season. Historically, governors and members of Congress got to pick local constituents in fields from retirement finance to health services with a prestigious delegate appointment to the conference,” says the seasoned journalist who served as a delegate at the 1995 WHCoA.

A Call for an Expansion of Social Security

The WHCoA’s scheduled date in 2015 fell in the year where advocates in aging celebrated the 50th anniversary of Medicare, Medicaid and the Older Americans Act as well as the 80th anniversary of Social Security. Kleyman notes that the newly released 34 page WHCoA report (with 49 pages of appendices) says, “The 2015 White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) provided an opportunity to recognize the importance of these key programs as well as to look ahead to the next decade.”

President Obama was sent a letter with 74 Congressional cosigners reminding him that over half of today’s older workers are not expected to be able to have sufficient resources upon their retirement to maintain their current standard of living. Although they called for an expansion of Social Security, Kleyman says discussion was “barely audible” at the aging conference.

In addressing the WHCoA attendees, Obama called for “keeping Social Security strong, protecting its future solvency,” pledging to fight “privatization of the program. Kleyman observed that proposed new rules to help workers increase their retirement “stopped short of supporting stronger benefits that they need.”

It’s a Mixed Bag

But, Kleyman says that aging advocates consider the WHCoA’s recommendations a mixed bag. In his E-newsletter article, he references a Jan. 6, 2015 blog penned by Kevin Prindiville who serves as executive director of Justice in Aging. “The report details piecemeal public actions and private initiatives, but ignores the opportunity to lay out an ambitious policy proposal to address pressing systemic challenges,” he says.

Kleyman also zeros in on Prindiville’s observations as to why this year’s WHCoA was of the scaled down. He observed, “To those who followed the WHCOA closely, this was not a surprise. Congress’ failure to reauthorize the Older Americans Act, and the lack of appropriate funding for the conference, meant WHCOA organizers had to produce a conference without a budget. With little infrastructure and support, the White House did not propose any new big, bold ideas to prepare for a population that is literally booming.”

Kleyman says that attendees were pleased to see a recommendation calling for improving the quality and safety requirements in the nation’s 15,000 long-term care facilities and a proposal to allow low-income and frail home bound elders and people with disabilities to use food stamps for meals on wheels.

Meanwhile, attendees were told at this event that physicians would be paid starting in 2016 to counsel patients about their end-of-life care, adds Kleyman, noting that recommendations did not address the nation’s increasing diversity.  Yet, there was no discussion on hospice and palliative care, affordable senior housing issues, and little discussion of elder abuse, the need for adequate transportation and long-term care, he says.

See You in 2025

According to the Census Bureau, in 2050, the 65-and-older population will be 83.7 million, almost double of what it was in 2012. The 2015 WHCoA conference has taken place with a skyrocketing older population, referred to as the “Graying of America.” Can this year’s conference provide policy makers with a road map to shape the delivery of services for years to come? As Kleyman says, probably not. “So it goes, at least until 2025,” he says.

 

Gerritt is Green with Commitment

Published in Senior Digest on January 2016

 

Some people ease into retirement, traveling to exotic locales, catching up with friends at the neighborhood supermarket, or fixing up the homestead, long put off because of time constraints.  Not so for 62-year-old Greg Gerritt, who still sees many years of work ahead of him to make Rhode Island economically sustainable through protecting the environment and advocating for the poor and downtrodden.

 

When Gerritt was 14 years old, he remembers reading a book on endangered species. At that young age, he would intuitively know that environmental advocacy would become his life’s mission. Three years later he would create the first Earth Day celebration at his high school in Teaneck, N.J. Later he would relocate to Maine to attend college, ultimately receiving his bachelor’s degree in anthropology in 1974 from the University of Maine. With degree in hand, the college graduate hitch hiked across the country before returning to Maine.

 

As a self-taught carpenter, Gerritt was able to make a living on his 10 acres of land. He offered low-cost work to seniors. During his 25 years in Maine, he worked to create a sustainable economy by growing a garden and putting up solar panels on his house along with creating an organic homestead.

 

Gerritt and his wife, Kathleen Rourke, met in 1991 through a personal ad placed in “The Maine Times.” The couple got married at Town Hall in Industry, Maine, and would later relocate to Rhode Island to be close to Kathleen’s family.

His passion for protecting the environment is “on and off the clock,” notes Gerritt. During the day, the Providence resident works as an administrator for the Environment Council of Rhode Island and leads the nonprofit group’s Rhode Island Compost Initiative. In 2012, he received a Merit Award from the Environmental Protection Agency Region I for advancing the cause of compost in the state.

 

Gerritt gives countless hours of his work off time to environmental causes. As the founder of Friends of the Moshassuck, he promotes using sound ecological principles to enhance the community. He even took his environmental advocacy into the political sphere, where he helped to found the Green Party of the United States and ran for mayor of Providence as a Green Party candidate in 2002. He admits, “There’s just no way to distinguish where my time goes because everything I do is interconnected.”

 

Through his love for the environment, Gerritt has learned to shoot videos and has become an expert on amphibians in the North Burial Ground in Providence. He has shot countless hours of video showing the development, feeding habits and behavior of fowler toads,” he says.

However, Gerritt may be better known in the Ocean State for establishing the “Buy Nothing Day Winter Coat Exchange” in 1997. According to Gerritt, the idea of giving substance to an already existing “Buy Nothing Day” created by consumer advocates came out of a meeting at the Rochambeau Library in Providence. The initiative had to be “better than a protest,” with the goal of helping the poor, he says.

 

Gerritt estimates that in its first year, more than 250 coats were given away at the site of the GTECH building. “We just put a piece of plastic on the ground to keep the coats dry, and people game to get their coats,” he remembers. The second year the half day event was relocated. “It was so symbolic placing it between the Statehouse and the newly built Providence Mall. You have “big government” and “large corporations” with the poor in between,” he says.

Gerritt has announced his retirement from the very successful coat giveaway initiative held the day after Thanksgiving. Thousands of coats were given to needy Rhode Islanders at 10 sites throughout the state, he says.

 

It was the perfect time to leave, notes Gerritt. “It’s grown big enough and should not depend on just me to keep it going. It’s time to pass it on to another person when it’s thriving,” he says.

In Rhode Island for more than 20 years, Gerritt has published two books and scores of articles in newspapers, magazines and on his blog, www.prosperityforri.com. He writes to advocate for a sustainable economy, social justice and protecting the environment, and he does not expect to retire in the near future from his job or other volunteer efforts.

 

“The work never ends,” he said, noting that there always will be a need for advocates. “I will actually continue my work until I can’t physically do it,” he added.

Looking back at his life as an environmental and social advocate Gerritt has some insight to pass on to those who will listen. “Do what you want to do. Look to see if you are doing what really brings you joy and makes the world a better place to be in. That’s what you should be doing,” he said.