When it comes to generations in the workplace, a lot of focus has been on the Millennial and Gen Z age groups. Sure, they’re young and are taking up a majority of the workforce, but that doesn’t mean you should discount Baby Boomers and Gen X workers.
You must also consider, when handling all these generations of workers, that many Baby Boomers aren’t retiring and are instead opting to stay in the workforce much longer than previous generations. However, when it comes to location, some Baby Boomers may be working longer than others.
New data—released by senior living community provider, Provision Living—shows which cities have the highest population of working seniors, those over the age of 65. And like the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas—especially the population of seniors in the workplace.
Cities with the Highest Number of Working Seniors
According to Provision Living’s data, “Five out of the top 10 cities with the most seniors in the workforce are located in the Lone Star State. Plano tops the list with a quarter of its senior population still working. Garland, Austin, Dallas and Irving also make the top 10 list at No. 5, 6, 8 and 10, respectively.”
On the flip side, large metro cities like New York City and Chicago do not have a large population of senior workers. Provision Living reports that these two cities, in particular, didn’t even make it into the top 50 rankings.
Top Cities Where the Senior Workforce Is Growing
The data also reveals that Durham, North Carolina is the number one city in the country that’s seeing a rise in working seniors. Again, Plano and Austin, Texas make the cut; coming in second and third, respectively. Since 2009, Durham has seen a 109% growth in senior workers, while Plano and Austin, Texas have seen almost a 100% growth, at 99% and 95%, respectively.
“As the retirement age continues to increase it will be interesting to see how these rankings evolve over the next several years,” says Provision Living. “But for now, it’s clear to see that seniors living within these cities have work ethic in their DNA.”
Retaining and Engaging Senior Workers
As the cost of healthcare and general living continues to rise, many older workers are opting to stay in the workforce longer than ever before. Instead of forcing older workers out, employers should be looking for ways to actively engage and retain senior workers.
These workers not only have the desire to stay put, but they also have a vast amount of knowledge related to your company and/or industry. Once these workers go, so does the knowledge they carry with them. If you’re looking to retain and engage your older workers, keep these tips in mind:
Offer flexible schedules or remote working opportunities. This work option appeals to the “snowbird” workers. Snowbird workers are typically employees who live in cold weather climates one part of the year and move to warm weather climates the remainder of the year.
This option is also great for Baby Boomers who are on the verge of retiring but haven’t made the leap just yet. Allowing preretirees the option to work from home or adjust their schedules as they see fit prepares them for what life will be like once they finally do retire.
Consider partnering with preretirees. According to the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation’s 2015 State of Entrepreneurship report, “Older entrepreneurs don’t usually start companies out of retirement or unemployment — they are more likely to do so from a job. So rising labor force participation among Boomers, combined with their existing propensity to start companies, could mean a boost to rates of business creation in the future.”
“To capitalize on this trend, you could discuss post-retirement entrepreneurship in your pre-retirement talks with employees and during exit interviews,” suggests Dona DeZube—in a blog post on Monster.com. Dezube says to consider this: “Are there opportunities to continue working with a retiring Baby Boomer via a partnership or joint operating agreement?” Creating a partnership with pre-retiree Boomers is a great way to keep them around and make them happy doing something that they love.
Develop a mentorship program to retain Baby Boomers and their knowledge. As previously mentioned, when seasoned talent leaves the company, these workers also take the knowledge they’ve learned with them. To help retain Boomers, and their knowledge, develop mentorship programs between Baby Boomers and Millennials. Baby Boomers can teach Millennials the “tricks of the trade” so when they do retire, the next wave of workers will be prepared to fill the void.
If your workforce is still predominately Boomer-heavy, keep these tips in mind when trying to retain this talent pool and their vast array of knowledge.