Retirables Eyeing Quiet Retiring Post-Pandemic
COVID-19 swept us all away from daily normalcy in the first quarter of 2020, and everything changed since then. Perhaps, most especially everyone’s work settings got all topsy-turvy and had us rethinking our careers and professional lives.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the proportion of Americans over 55 who were employed significantly decreased when the pandemic started, falling by 6 percentage points to 33.3 percent in March and April of 2020, as the Washington Post wrote.
Desperate measures from this desperate time had boomers rummaging about what’s left of traditional work settings and had them thinking of retiring earlier than expected. However, thanks to tech and innovation, we were introduced to terms bantered around such as “Quiet Quitting”, “Quiet Working”, and the most resonating for the boomers concerned: Quiet Retiring.
The retirement-induced attrition is going to be more of a problem for many companies when their boomer demographic hits retirement age. But strategies have devices to cushion such a blow in the workforce, especially in manufacturing.
Retirement has a greater impact on the labor shortage in manufacturing than quitting. According to a Manufacturing Institute poll, 82% of people who had quit a manufacturing job in the previous six months had done so because of retirement or age- or health-related-related issues.
What Is Quiet Retiring Exactly?
If one of your experts, say a manager decided to retire but you don’t want to lose their knowledge and experience, you can rehire them and keep them for a part-time role or as a consultant.
Retirees, particularly in production, can quickly be bored as soon as they pack their stuff and call it a career. The low after years of highs worth of being productive and talking with coworkers can take a toll on them. With quiet retirement, you can get them back, and have them working, say two days a week of work with fewer benefits.
Quiet Retiring can help companies keep some of those employees by allowing them to work fewer hours or as consultants. You can keep them at your company longer and benefit from their institutional knowledge.
According to a survey found by Modular Homes, If given the chance, the majority of employees would choose quiet retirement. 79% of those who were considering semi-retirement wanted a flexible work schedule, 66% would be open to switching to a consulting position, and 59% would be open to taking on fewer responsibilities and receiving less compensation.
For an aging demographic, a radical shift in working arrangements is a win-win deal. Companies that like to keep their most experienced people can still keep crucial roles filled and institutional knowledge in-house. And employees can still keep their retirement accounts on hold, and still be able to work longer.
Sources:
- Gary Fleisher, Baby Boomers Are Ready to Begin “Quiet Retiring”, Modular Homes, February 2, 2023, https://www.modularhomes.com/baby-boomers-are-ready-to-begin-quiet-retiring/
- Sue Hertz, February 22, 2022, Millions of baby boomers have left the workplace since 2020. Are they coming back?, The Washington Post, February 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/02/25/great-resignation-older-workers/
- Richard Fry, July 24, 2019, Baby Boomers are staying in the labor force at rates not seen in generations for people their age, February 17, 2023, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/24/baby-boomers-us-labor-force/\
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