Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 22, 1990 TAG: 9005220159
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And a retired school administrator, who doesn't want his name used, needs extra money to supplement his wife's medical insurance premiums.
Then there are people like Jean Seleno, who came to the League of Older American's job fair in search of a part-time clerical job. "I'm into ballroom dancing, but it's so expensive I need a job to help pay for my dance lessons," said Seleno, who finished first in swing and third in rumba in a Las Vegas dance competition last year.
While the reasons were varied, there was a constant message that echoed through the lobby of Crossroads Mall during last Friday's Older Worker Job Fair: Many retirees want to go back to work.
Twenty-two area employers turned out for the league's first valley-wide job fair, giving about 400 participants opportunities to make contacts, fill out applications and set up interviews. Most jobs available at the fair were service-oriented, including fast food, clerical, health-care and retail. A few offered training for mid-level management positions.
"A lot of these people have been forced to retire early and can't make enough to live off their Social Security benefits," Ron Boyd, the league's senior employment director, said of the job fair attendees. "And many of them just want to keep busy.
"You hear about the golden years, how nice they are. But it's not always natural for people to stop working all of a sudden. Many people would like part-time work - they can supplement their incomes, plus stay busy."
A recent study by the Commonwealth Fund, a philanthropy concerned with elderly issues, reinforces that notion. Of the older people who are out of the work force, about half are satisfied. One-fourth can't work because of health or family situations.
The remaining one-fourth - representing about 2 million Americans - are unhappy about being unemployed, the study reports.
Indeed, the leisure that troubles many seniors may become a boon to employers who face a shrinking number of qualified workers as the baby-boomers grow old.
Just ask Arlene Rose, a trainer at Sears Telecatalog Center and a job-fair participant. Of 900 customer-service representatives at Sears, about half are retirees who work 12 to 15 hours per week.
"We're finding out that our older employees are the best - they're more dependable, more conscientious," Rose said. "And as customer service is concerned, they've been there. They treat their customers the way they like to be treated."
Flexible work schedules and a friendly work atmosphere make the jobs particularly appealing to seniors, some of whom came to Sears after retiring from jobs as telephone operators, railroad workers, architects and school teachers.
"Retirees aren't looking for another professional job," Rose said. "They just want something that's relaxing and friendly."
LOA staffers note other pluses to hiring older workers, including: availability (the population of people 55 and older in this region is 20 percent and growing); a lower absentee rate; cost-effectiveness because of lower turnover; experience; and studies that show older workers tend to increase worker morale and productivity.
Said Seleno, "Overall, I think we're much more reliable workers. Like with me, I'd have to be dead before I'd take a day off work."
Carmen Stephenson, who's been retired from Salem's Veterans Administration Medical Center for two years, likes not working - up to a point. While she does do volunteer work, "I could still use more to do, to fill up some spare time," Stephenson said.
"I don't think I could work quite as fast at a job as some of the younger people, but I probably wouldn't goof off as much either."
Surveys by the American Association of Retired Persons show that from a quarter to a half of older workers and retirees would delay retirement if they could work fewer hours. Part-time jobs are attractive to seniors not just because of waning energies but because, by keeping their earnings low, they can still collect full Social Security benefits.
Retirees younger than 65 receive reduced benefits if they earn more than $6,840 a year. From ages 65 to 69, the threshold for reduced benefits is $9,360 a year. After 70, there is no earnings limit.
In the Roanoke Valley, the market for older workers is growing, particularly in service-oriented fields. Boyd said he receives an average of 10 calls per week from area employers who want to hire retirees.
In fact, in the past nine months the demand for older workers has increased enough to warrant starting a newsletter that lists job openings. For more information on LOA's senior employment program, or to receive its newsletter, call 345-0451.
by CNB