Impact of Boomers Working Past Retirement Years

Impact of Boomers Working Past Retirement Years

 

As people are living longer and the age for receiving social security payments is extended, baby boomers have found that they are working well into what used to be considered retirement years.  USA Today reported, “The Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll found a baby boom generation planning to work into retirement years — with 73% planning to work past retirement, up from 67% this spring. The poll involved online interviews with 1,095 baby boomers.” According to the Examiner, “boomers are likely going to work five to 10 years longer before retiring.”

There are currently 77 million baby boomers.  This group has found it difficult to retire because “41% of boomers said they are expecting to have to scale back their lifestyle in some way in retirement and 31% believe they will struggle financially.”

Having a lot of baby boomers in the workplace has had an impact on the post-boomer generations.  In the article Millennials Hoping for Boomers to Retire, it was noted that many people who used to retire in their 60s are continuing to work, making it harder for Millennials to find employment.

There are currently four generations coexisting in the workplace. These 4 generations include:

World War II Generation (aka depression babies) – Those born prior to 1945

Baby Boomers – Those born 1946 to 1964

Generation X – Those born 1965 to 1982

Generation Y (aka the Millennials) – Those born after 1982

Baby Boomers represent the largest segment of the American work force.  However, millennials will be replacing the baby boomer group soon.  According to Harvard Business Review /HBR.org, “The makeup of the global workforce is undergoing a seismic shift: In four years Millennials—the people born between 1977 and 1997—will account for nearly half the employees in the world. In some companies, they already constitute a majority.”

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Online Classes So Important: Mandatory for Graduation

Times have certainly changed for high school education.  Alabama, Florida and Michigan are just some of the states that now require students to take at least one online course to graduate.  According to the article 10 Online Ed Trends Coming to a High School Near You, “Administrators believe that getting students to take online courses will better prepare them to work with the technologies they’ll face in college and the workforce.”

In Memphis online classes were increased due to an upswing in the desire by students to take these courses.  Online courses are available for both high school and middle school students.  An advantage for the schools is that they are less expensive.  In the article Online Class Required for Graduation in Memphis, the author points out that there will be some stringent requirements.  “The structure calls for accountability requiring students to log on, finish assignments, and participate in hour-long live chat sessions with an instructor and classmates. Teachers speak with students after each module to verify their identity. Proctored semester exams are administered on school grounds.”

The number of states adding online requirements continues to grow.  Idaho has a tech-focused school reform program that will require students to take two online courses.  Indiana has also jumped on the technology bandwagon.  Indiana state superintendent, Tony Bennett, recently announced that students will be required to take at least one online course in order to graduate.  In the article United States High Schools Including Online Coursework as Graduation Requirement, the author stated, “Mr. Bennett explained his rationale for an online course requirement by stating that he felt like experiencing an online course would help to prepare Indiana students for the technology they will be using at colleges and universities, as well as in the workforce.”

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Women Becoming More Successful Than Men

 

Women are passing men in their abilities to get a degree, handle families and garner success at work.  As men are falling behind, women are making huge strides.  CNN reported that, “For the first time in history, women are better educated, more ambitious and arguably more successful than men.”

Over half of college degrees are now being awarded to women. “In 1970, men earned 60% of all college degrees. In 1980, the figure fell to 50%, by 2006 it was 43%. Women now surpass men in college degrees by almost three to two. Women’s earnings grew 44% in real dollars from 1970 to 2007, compared with 6% growth for men.”

Women are becoming stronger entrepreneurs as well.  Forbes recently reported:  “As of 2011, it is estimated that there are over 8.1 million women-owned businesses in the United States. Overall, women-owned firms have done better than their male counterparts over the past 14 years. The number of men-owned firms (which represent 51% of all U.S. firms) grew by only 25% between 1997 and 2011—half the rate of women-owned firms.”

A study by Barclays Wealth and Ledbury Research may have some of the answers to why women are surpassing men.  One of the reasons they found is that women are less likely to take unnecessary risks or make rash decisions.  The Huffington Post backed up this point stating, “A 2005 study by Merrill Lynch found that 35% of women held an investment too long, compared with 47% of men. More recently, in 2009, a study by the mutual fund company Vanguard involving 2.7 million personal investors concluded that during the recent financial crisis, men were more likely than women to sell shares of stocks at all-time lows, leading to bigger losses among male traders.”

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Adjunct Advantages: The Future of Education

 

Professors who work on a contracted, part-time basis are referred to as adjuncts.  There are advantages for universities that hire adjuncts rather than tenured faculty. However, many adjunct professors do not like this option.  Some refer to the way things have changed in the university system as adjunct purgatory, with low pay, few benefits and no security.

There is no shortage of articles that point out the problems with adjuncts.  In an article from MindingTheCampus, author Mark Bauerlein stated, “The practice creates a two-tier system, with tenured and tenure-track folks on one, adjuncts on the other.  Adjuncts take up most of the undergraduate teaching, enabling the others to conduct their research and handle upper-division and graduate courses, thus maintaining a grating hierarchy that damages group morale.  Also, because of their tenuous status, adjuncts can’t give students the attention they deserve and they can’t apply the rigor they should.”

These problems are more often associated with traditional campuses.  However, the future of education is headed toward more online learning.  In fact, according to Campustechnology.com, “Nearly 12 million post-secondary students in the United States take some or all of their classes online right now. But this will skyrocket to more than 22 million in the next five years.”  In private online institutions, adjunct positions can actually be more lucrative due to the ability that faculty may teach multiple classes for multiple universities.

 

The reason there are so many negative articles about adjuncts is that in the traditional setting, they have a completely different set of issues than those in the online setting.  There are many positives that should be noted for adjuncts in online learning. Some of the positives from the universities’ perspective (online or traditional) include: Not having to offer tenure, having flexibility in course offerings and paying less money per course.

There are even more advantages for online adjuncts from the faculty’s perspective:

  • Ability to work at multiple universities
  • No driving to campuses
  • Less meetings to attend
  • No need to publish research
  • Ability to work any time of the day in asynchronous courses
  • Ability to have other jobs at the same time
  • Ability to travel and still teach without taking time off
  • Option to have some of the same benefits with some universities offering 401k, insurance and reduced tuition costs for the adjunct and their family

For those considering an adjunct online position, a site like higheredjobsis a great place to find teaching opportunities. For more information about adjunct salaries, check out SalaryBlog.org.

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How to Reinvent Your Career

Due to changes in the economy, many people have been forced to change jobs and learn how to reinvent themselves.  Sharon Simpson, aka The Reinvention Diva, contacted me recently to ask me if she could review my book How to Reinvent Your Career.  Sharon is a speaker, consultant and self-help guru who assists those that want to change habits and behaviors.  The following is the article she wrote about my book.  For more information about How to Reinvent Your Career, click here.  For The Reinvention Diva site, click here. 

How To Reinvent Your Career – Book Review

How to Reinvent Your Career – by Dr Diane Hamilton PhD

Dr Diane Hamilton’s book How to Reinvent Your Career is a holistic approach to finding and doing the job you love.

The first great thing I notice about this book is Dr Hamilton’s willingness to share personal experiences of how she reinvented herself (several times) to the position which she now holds.

Dr Diane Hamilton is a writer and a college professor teaching bachelor, master and doctoral-level business courses for six online universities. She kindly responded to my request to read and review her book in line with our focus here at The Reinvention Diva magazine on Career Reinvention.

The second great thing I found in her book is the systematic way she covers almost every aspect of change that would be involved in reinventing your career. There are ten chapters that cover everything from educating yourself to the right foods to eat to keep you healthy. From what to wear to your interview and taking a personality test. It is a well rounded 360Âş approach to the most important thing involved in change: YOU!

This book is about YOU, if you are serious about investing in your life, moving forward and learning whatever it is you need to live the life you want, I would suggest Dr Diane Hamilton’s book as an excellent place to start. And here’s why:

Dr Hamilton uses space at the end of each chapter to:

  • Ask you important process questions
  • Get you to do an exercise
  • Conduct research
  • Do some introspective questioningThis book is a manual for reinventing your career, Dr Hamilton has cleverly used her personal experiences to take us through the different stages of change. It is both practical, providing useful tips and suggestions and personal in that it encourages you to examine your emotional wellbeing, your fears, your health and life.I highly recommend this book. This book is written for the US market but applies on every level to any English speaking country.

    Thank you Dr Diane Hamilton.

    We hope we have provided you with what you need to reinvent your career. If you require further assistance, please contact mary@thereinventiondiva.com, our career advisor here at The Reinvention Diva magazine.

    With love

    Sharon
    The Reinvention Diva

    Further reading

    What Color Is Your Parachute? 2012: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers: 40th Anniversary Edition by Richard Nelson Bolles

    Career Transition – Make the Shift by Deborah Shane

    10 Laws of Career Reinvention – Essential Skills for any Economy by Pamela Mitchell

    Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway – 20th Anniversary Edition – How to Turn Your Fear into Confidence and Action by Susan Jeffers

    Finding Your Perfect Work – New Career Guide to Making a Living and Creating Life by Paul and Sarah Edwards

    The 80/20 Principle – The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch

    The 4 Hour Work Week – Escape 9to5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich byTimothy Ferris

    We Are the New Radicals: A Manifesto for Reinventing Yourself and Saving the World by Julia Moulden

via thereinventiondiva.com