No rocking chair just yet for many
Posted on Sunday, November 25, 2007
The proportion of older workers in Arkansas’ work force is increasing and the trend will continue, according to a U. S. Census Bureau report released this month.
About 13. 8 percent of the state’s population is over the age of 65, compared with 12. 4 percent of the country as a whole, according to the bureau. Further affecting the labor force, some workers are either retiring or changing to less-stressful or part-time jobs before 65.
As a result, the state has developed several programs to try to avoid a big dip in its work force, which could cause prices for certain goods and services to rise as employers compete to fill positions with qualified workers.
Other states are facing similar problems. According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the group of Americans 55 and older is projected to grow annually at almost four times that of the overall labor force — expanding by 11. 3 million during the decade ending 2014.
Generations coming after the aging baby boomers, people born between 1946 and 1964, are providing about 15 percent fewer workers, according to the AARP, a national advocacy group for those over 50.
In fall 2005, Arkansas was one of four states asked to participate in a pilot Mature Workers Initiative designed by the AARP, said Rebecca Trammell, special projects coordinator for the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board, which provides locally developed and operated services connecting employers and job seekers.
The AARP has set several goals. They include linking featured employers with mature job seekers; keeping older workers on the job longer; and developing relationships with community leaders, the public work force system, labor unions and others to increase awareness and appreciation of mature workers.
The state is also participating in the National Governors Association’s Aging Initiative, which will encourage long-term care and retirement income planning, as well as promoting services for the aging population.
Trammell said those are just two of the programs the state is using to increase awareness of the maturing work force.
“The upcoming work force is significantly smaller,” Trammell said. “If we keep these people longer — with the most knowledge and the most skills — the workplace won’t suffer from a lack of workers, and the expertise will be there.” At the same time, some older workers, although nearing retirement age, haven’t even started thinking about leaving their careers.
“The idea of retirement may be evolving,” said Greg Kaza, head of the Arkansas Policy Foundation. Workers seem to be staying on the job longer, and the thought of retirement hasn’t occurred to most of the baby boomers, he said.
Kaza said he doesn’t see a major problem developing because immigration from other countries and migration from other states will help fill the gap, as they have throughout America’s history. Continuing improvements in technology that increase productivity will also ease the crunch, he added.
“The market will take care of the problem,” Kaza said.
Retaining more students who graduate from college also would help. That’s one focus of Accelerate Arkansas, a volunteer group that has a goal of increasing Arkansas’ average wage to the national level by 2020. Jerry Adams, group chairman, said in an October interview that Arkansas exports its kids — including his son in Shanghai, China, and another in Atlanta — and that it needs to retain them.
AGING ON THE JOB The U. S. Census Bureau’s report studied older workers in Arkansas during 2004. The study defined mature workers as those over the age of 55. During the time studied, the baby boomers were aged 40 to 58. Statewide, 14. 3 percent of the work force was mature in 2004, the report said. In three counties — Lee, Searcy and Fulton — 20 percent or more of the workers were over the age of 55. Only 3. 1 percent of the state’s work force was 65 or older, but that’s expected to grow in coming years, according to the report. “Generally it is seen that a lot of the most economically vibrant communities tend to be a little bit younger than some areas that don’t have as much,” said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. “If the work force is continually being renewed, you don’t see that kind of aging.” The most vibrant parts of the state are generally recognized as the Little Rock and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metropolitan statistical areas, and the census data shows those areas have relatively low percentages of older workers. Among industries that employed 100 or more workers over the age of 55 in the state, the real estate, rental and leasing segment had the highest proportion, a little more than 20 percent. In nonmetropolitan areas, the arts, entertainment and recreation segment had the highest concentration in industries that employed more than 100 mature workers.
Although manufacturing had a lower proportion of workers over 55, that segment did account for the largest number of mature Arkansas workers — 22 percent of them. That also held true when breaking down into metropolitan areas, where manufacturing employed 17. 7 percent of mature workers, and nonmetropolitan areas, which employed 28. 1 percent of the workforce population over the age of 55.
According to the Census report, workers statewide over the age of 55 earned an average of $ 2, 861 a month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average wage for all Arkansans was $ 2, 418.
“Going forward, it’s possible we may be seeing the emergence of a two-tier retirement system,” Kaza said.
For most, retirement is a three-legged stool constructed from Social Security, personal savings, and a private or government pension. But personal savings and pensions aren’t always there, especially for those who might be in a lower-income career. People who have worked a sufficient length of time become eligible for Social Security at age 62, but full benefits kick in at 65 to 67, depending on the year of birth.
“For those who have just one leg, this may be what they’re facing,” Kaza said. Arkansas is one of the states that taxes pension income, although it has an exclusion of $ 6, 000, including individual retirement account distributions, after the age of 59 1 / 2, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Only nine states have tax exemptions on pensions. Steve Sparks, director of the training division for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said he sees many workers who haven’t saved enough to retire early and instead work until a forced retirement age. Manufacturers are on the cusp of losing a huge group of highly trained and specialized workers, with jobs young workers haven’t been trained to do, Sparks said. As part of the commission’s training program, Sparks works with older employees who might be resistant to change, and also helps them train younger replacements when they’re getting ready to leave, Sparks said. “They’re self-starters, with a world of experience,” he said. “That’s the value of keeping those folks on.” WORKING FOR LIFE But the idea of traditional retirement is also becoming outdated for some. A possible reason for the high percentage of mature workers in real estate is that it’s not physically challenging, said Ethan Nobles, spokesman for the Arkansas Realtors Association. It’s also a career that can be cut back to part time. “I think if you look at doctors, lawyers, you’ll find a lot of folks get into it and stick with it a long time,” Nobles said. “You’ll find real estate is the same.” Jim Furr, 64, got into real estate in the 1970 s after about a decade as a music teacher and store owner. He’s now an agent with the Remax Real Estate Centre in Jonesboro and will be the 2008 president of the Arkansas Realtors Association. “I love it because every day is kind of a new challenge, every customer is different,” he said. “It’s not boring because you learn something constantly. This industry changes so rapidly.” Furr, who travels the state teaching courses on real estate, said the technology for selling property is always changing.
“There’s a lot of things constantly happening. It keeps you young,” he said.
But his business is still primarily driven by word-of-mouth recommendations, he said. He’s sold houses to couples and then later to their children. He sends notes to past customers and keeps in touch. It helps that he’s been doing it for so many years and has so many connections.
“If I had to start out today at my age, it would be just impossible, even with my enthusiasm,” Furr said.
Joy Pennington, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Council, said it makes sense that there would be a high concentration of mature workers in arts and entertainment, especially because the creative sector of the economy is the third-largest after transportation and agriculture. A lot of the arts and entertainment economy is rural and in smaller communities, she said. Many small arts centers are springing up, as well as musical organizations. And the craft industry is big in some rural towns.
Because music or art tends to be less physically demanding, it’s something an artist can do for his entire life, she said. It’s also something many people pursue later in life.
“A lot of older workers might be retired from other careers, and as they get older, they’re following their passion,” she said. “A lot of retired people have a second career as artists or musicians.” Angela Cummings, 58, teaches pottery and ceramics at the Arkansas Arts Center, as well as at Hendrix College in Conway. She said she has no foreseeable retirement date in mind, and even if she did, she’d still end up making pottery.
“I’m a potter, and I teach pottery,” she said. “I might as well keep working and get paid.” While creating pottery can be labor intensive, it’s not as taxing or repetitive as a job at a manufacturing plant or sitting in an office, she said.
People ages 18 to 80 take her adult classes, in part because creating art is a freeing experience, she said. “So many of those people are looking for some other stimulation outside their computer job,” she said.
A person who worked in a well-paying white collar or professional position most of his life might switch to a part-time retail job or go to work for a nonprofit organization.
Trammell, with the Workforce Investment agency, said it’s not always about money.
“Some people want to volunteer and don’t need the money to live on,” Trammell said. “The other side of that coin is that people are living longer and living healthier, and they didn’t plan to live that long so they’re running out of retirement money. They want to come back or they just want to extend their workplace benefits by staying a little longer.” She’s 65 years old, and plans to continue working for a long time.
“I’m at full retirement age, but I know I have to continue to be mentally challenged,” Trammell said. “As long as your mind’s going, your body will follow.”
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