One More Thing About Emma

   The Emma referred to here is Emma Shulman, profiled in a recent issue of Business Week, and the "one more thing" about her is that she's still working 50 hours a week, at the age of 93. Before you think, "good for her" and move on, you should know the reason she's in the magazine's article.
   Shulman is one of the seniors used as examples of the fact that the workforce is aging, and that productive, paid work does not have to end at 65. "Old. Smart. Productive. Rather than being an economic deadweight, the next generation of older Americans is likely to make a much bigger contribution to the economy than many of today's forecasts predict. Sure, most people slow down as they get older. But new research suggests that boomers will have the ability -- and the desire -- to work productively and innovatively well beyond today's normal retirement age." So say Peter Coy and Diane Brady, the article's authors.
   Some interesting stats are presented to back up the authors' statements about the boomers' ability. For instance, those 65- to 69-year-olds with a disability affecting their ability to work fell from nearly 28% in 1995 to less than 22% last year. Longer years with better quality of health mean that more boomers may well be ready to report to work on Monday, along with all their juniors.
   Employers need reasons that translate into dollars and cents to retain these workers. The article addresses the issue that older workers are often viewed as inflexible and uncreative. Research by economists David W. Galenson of the University of Chicago and Bruce A. Weinberg of Ohio State University shows that the innovations of older people are likely to be "experimental," and built on a lifetime of observation. Having someone who takes such an approach on your team can provide just the right counter-balance to the "conceptual" innovations of younger types. The reader is told that painter Paul Cézanne, and architect Frank Lloyd Wright are among those who produced some of their best work later in life.
   Invaluable experience is the basis of an excellent reason to retain the older worker. The level of expertise based on years in a position can be tapped by making the senior into an advisor for the junior. The Energy Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia has retained chemical engineer Hugh D. Guthrie, 86, as a full-time technical adviser partly because he has ideas that might not occur to younger engineers. Guthrie phrases his value well when he says: "My experience gives me a perspective on questions, which may not always be right but nearly always will be different. The greatest service I provide is in stimulating the thinking of people involved in a project."
   America alone has approximately 76 million boomers and if they were to retire en masse, there could well be a shortage of people to take their place. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts a decrease in the labour-force growth of almost half over the next 10 years, with a resultant labour shortage. At the moment, the U.S. is doing a better job of taking advantage of its older citizens' potential than most of Europe, where early retirement is routine. Six in ten Americans are still working at ages 55 to 64, compared to four in ten in the European Union.
   If there are such compelling reasons for smart employers to retain the older employee, there needs to be more incentives offered to the seniors to make them want to stay. Public education should play a big part. People need to understand that keeping yourself mentally challenged is key to aging well, and employers need to acknowledge that the older worker has a great deal to offer.
   Incentives could take the form of flexible hours and work location, special projects, and opportunities for mentoring and research. More flexibility in pay and retirement systems that create more options as workers age could also serve the purpose. As the article states, "Perhaps the most controversial idea is to break the typical link between pay and seniority." Getting paid to sit around and do nothing might sound good at first, but with today's longer lifespans, doing that "nothing" for 20 or 30 years might play a role in the development of dementia, and/or fragility . What a horrendous price to pay for a "life of leisure". Of course, someone in their seventies is not the right person for a job with high physical demands, but they may have a great deal to offer if they were given flexible hours and the opportunity to mentor someone younger at that job.
   Legislating longer years in the workforce is not necessarily the answer to the fears of a small workforce struggling to support a mammoth phalanx of retirees. For those like Emma Shulman and Hugh Guthrie, however, there should be the opportunity provided to keep using their alarm clocks and remain in the workforce as long as they are able and motivated to do so.