Evidence that the Job Market is Heating Up

RetirementJobs.com focuses on job hunting resources and opportunities for the burgeoning 50+ set. Funded by major east coast companies and guided by Boston veterans of Internet job searching websites, Retirementjobs.com specializes in part time positions and consulting projects that feature flexibility as their mantra.

Here is Retirementjobs.com's definition of “flexibility” and its value to Baby Boomers who have passed their 50th birthday:

WHAT’S IN	WHAT’S OUT
Flexibility: Partial day, week or year	60-hour workweeks
Staying closer to home / Telecommuting	Long commutes; Traveling non-stop for work
Being an individual contributor where you complete shorter, assigned tasks whose outcome you mostly control; Being managed by someone much younger	Managing large teams; taking on big organizational mandates with significant risk and stress
Finding a fun, challenging, secure and stable job and staying in it for a long time	Job hopping more regularly to improve pay or title
A readiness to trade pay for a suitable work/life balance (job pay is a supplement to investment and Social Security income)	Needing big raises every year to meet rising living and/or child-rearing costs
Competing for business results in the marketplace	Competing with your peers for promotions within the company and face-time with the boss
Providing advice to people who value your work & life experience; being a mentor to younger workers	Being mentored yourself by a mature, experienced worker
Developing relationships with customers who love your reliable and service-oriented style, trust you because they’re older too, and may know you from previous personal or business dealings in the community	Developing relationships through heavy time investments (e.g., industry conferences)
Giving back to society; working for “meaning”	What’s in it for me?
A readiness to be trained and learn new tricks, such as specific computer programs Source: RetirementJobs.com November 2005 survey	Not having time to focus on learning new things

According to the answers to other questions in this same survey that hundreds of 50+ Boomers responded to, here are the major trends that RetirementJobs.com is finding:

For employees, it is typically a combination of financial need and desire to remain active that has them staying in, or re-entering, the workforce.

For employers, older workers represent reliability and knowledge. “Older workers are valued for their maturity and institutionalized knowledge. Many organizations are seeking to add these skilled employees to their workforce,” explains Jan Margolis, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Applied Research Corporation. Boston College’s Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Co-director of The Center on Aging & Work/Workplace Flexibility concurs that the aging workforce has employers changing their ways, saying “the business community is becoming increasingly aware of older workers.” Both of these professionals are part of RetirementJobs.com Corporate Advisory Board.

RetirementJobs.com looks like it is well positioned to give employers a resource that connects them with job candidates over 50 who are becoming an increasingly important part of the overall labor market. With 76 million baby boomers set to reach traditional retirement age in the coming years, many companies are experiencing a labor shortage.

"Companies are acutely aware of the value of this experienced labor force, and are signaling that this demographic group is more necessary to attract than ever," said Tim Driver, founder and CEO of RetirementJobs.com. "Now, there's an easy and specialized place for recruiters to go to interact with this community of workers." This website offers resources to its visitors such as advice, news, success stories and money tips. Mr. Driver previously ran the careers business division for AOL, and was a board member and senior executive with Salary.com.

Staffing agencies such as Kelly and Manpower are well represented on this website, according to my test of ten zip codes throughout the country that I tried. They recognize that they must be boomer-friendly to enhance their role in this changing make-up of the workforce. Nancy Schuman of Lloyd Staffing notes that the flexible nature of temporary work has a broad appeal to both workers and employers, saying, “Many people will choose to temp their way through retirement” (Lloyd Staffing has a business relationship with RetirementJobs.com).

RetirementJobs.com was launched in May, 2006 and judging by how easy it is to use and the vast array of solid career resources and advice that you can find, it will be a site that you’ll want to register with and keep coming back to time and again. Registration is free.

Let me know what you think of RetirementJobs.com! See you in September to cover even more promising websites in job searching. Have a terrific August!