Long overlooked, graying workers are back in style DETROIT (The Detroit News), April 3, 2005:
Once dismissed as too expensive, technology-phobic and prone to racking up huge medical bills, older workers are slowly finding new acceptance from employers.
A growing number of Metro Detroit companies are making special efforts to find and keep workers older than 50, sending recruiters to special job fairs, partnering with groups like AARP and dangling flexible schedules and other senior-friendly enticements.
Embracing "silver-collar" workers -- after years of pushing them to retire or trashing their resumes -- is now seen by many as smart business.
"They understand business ethics, the importance of communication, how to deal with the public and work within a team environment," said Steve Armstrong, Kelly Services' vice president of operations in its Metro Markets division.
Troy-based Kelly Services employs 60,000 workers age 50 and older, 14 percent of its national work force. It's one of several local companies, including Ann Arbor-based Borders Group Inc. and Volkswagen of America Inc. of Auburn Hills and Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, that have won praise from AARP for embracing older workers.
Major companies including Walgreens, Pitney Bowes and MetLife extol the virtues of older workers.
Lorraine Merva, a former buyer for an Ann Arbor computer company, retired along with her husband in 2000. She went back to work for Borders nearly three years ago for the employee discount, to earn a little mad money and stay mentally fit. She anticipated some resistance because of her age, but she was hired at the first store where she applied.
"I don't want to sit home and knit," Merva said. "To me, it's a challenge and I like challenges."
Merva, 57, is a part-time cashier for the Brighton store, a job she had never done before. But she also has used the skills she developed during her 30-plus years at work. Last year, Borders upgraded its software, and Merva volunteered to test it before it was implemented in the stores.
Besides their workplace attitudes, older workers have the nation's shifting demographics on their side. About 4 million of Michigan's 10 million residents are older than 45. By 2012, the Department of Labor estimates that 19 percent of the U.S. work force will be age 55 or older, up from 14.3 percent in 2002.
And there are not enough younger workers to fill the spots left open by retiring baby boomers.
"People are staying in the work force longer for both monetary reasons and for fulfillment," said Karen Kosniewski, president of Operation ABLE of Michigan, a nonprofit organization that offers training and assistance to over-40 job seekers.
Some struggle
Still, many older workers in Metro Detroit have a hard time finding a good-paying job. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 7.5 percent, and the thousands who have taken early retirement offers or have been laid off from auto companies have left a glut of older workers. They also have to compete with younger, often more educated job seekers.
Age discrimination exists across industries despite new legal protections. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 17,837 age discrimination complaints in 2004, down slightly from the previous two years.
Ralph Wade, 62, of St. Clair Shores has faced his share of rejection on the job trail. Wade retired in 2002 as an industrial engineer after 38 years at DaimlerChrysler AG. His wife, a registered nurse, is only 55, and she doesn't plan to quit any time soon, he said. So rather than twiddle his thumbs at home, Wade wants work.
He works out five times a week and he's started running again, something he hasn't done since his Army days.
The grandfather of three said he let an opportunity to work for Ford Motor Co. about two years ago slip through his fingers. He promises that won't happen again.
"I kicked myself ever since. It was just what I was looking for," Wade said. "I would consider full-time work. ... I'm still interested."
Jumping back in
Nearly 75 percent of U.S. workers plan to work at least part time during their retirement years, according to a Hudson Highland Group Inc. survey.
Operation ABLE has sponsored a career fair aimed at mature workers for nearly two decades. Last year, it set attendance records as more than 1,900 job seekers flooded the Ability is Ageless Job Fair.
Kosniewski expects more people will attend this year's event, which features about 40 employers and runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Ramada Inn Southfield.
National City is one of the job fair's regulars. The bank not only finds a huge candidate pool, but it receives referrals for months from people who attended the event, said Cindy Nassouri, vice president and employment manager covering Michigan and Chicago for National City's Midwest region.
"You see candidates who have a broader experience level through their work and life. Our customers relate to that life experience," Nassouri said.
That is also true at Borders, which launched a recruiting initiative aimed at older workers after internal research found its sales improved when its stores were staffed with people reflected in the local community, said Dan Smith, senior vice president of human relations for the Ann Arbor chain.
Six years ago, 6 percent of Borders' work force was older than 50. Today, the percentage has more than doubled to 15 percent, Smith said.
Older workers have life experience, so their recommendations of books and music ring true with customers. They typically are working because they want to, so turnover rate is less than half of those younger than 50, Smith said.
Plus, Borders recently began offering medical, dental and vision benefits to its part-time workers, something few employers do. So for a worker who needs to bridge the gap between retirement and Medicare, a Borders job could be a budget-saver.
"Age plays at least as big a role in diversity in the workplace as race and gender," Kelly's Armstrong said. "Experienced workers help round out an office, and they bring real value to the table."
Ideal situation
That is true for Jim Heckman, a contract defense attorney for Kelly's Law Registry. Heckman, 57, has retired twice -- from the law firm where he practiced for 25 years and from an air travel club where he was president for four years.
Heckman went back to work in December through Kelly Services, which matched him with a large insurance firm. He works five days a week, but he says those hours are a pleasure compared to the politics he remembers from previous jobs. Best yet, his employer knows that come May, Heckman is back on the road, traveling with friends and family.
"It's what I thought working would be like when I graduated from law school," Heckman said. "It's the best of both worlds. I still get to travel, and I can keep my brain cells functioning."
Heckman's specialized skills eased his transition back into the work force. But it has been harder for Kassandra Harris, a 49-year-old administrative assistant who has been out of work since January 2001, when the company she worked for was sold and she was put on permanent layoff.
Despite her nearly 25 years of experience, the Detroit woman said she has had few job offers.
"They feel as if I would demand what I was making at my previous employer," Harris said. "I know that it would take time to work up to that point; I'm willing to accept that. But I also don't think I should have to take entry-level wages when I have advanced skills."
By Karen Dybis kdybis@detnews.com.
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