File Photo / Tim Greenway
Nancy Strojny is SCORE Maine’s assistant district director.
July 9, 2024
Retired-ish: Retired Mainers are reentering the workforce
By Sloane M. Perron
The word “retirement” may conjure up images of tropical relaxation, spending time with grandkids or perfecting one’s golf game.
But for many Mainers, that concept of retirement is a thing of the past.
Like those across the U.S., some 20% of Maine retirees are re-entering the workforce. Whether for financial survival, or to regain a sense of purpose and routine, the number of Mainers “un-retiring” is growing.
The change in workplace demographics particularly affects Maine since the state has the largest population per capita of people 65 years or older. Maine’s 65 and older demographic makes up 22.5% of the state’s total population, even exceeding Florida’s, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Nancy Strojny, the SCORE Maine assistant district director, described the two main reasons why older professionals opt back into the workforce.
“I call it two parallel paths. One reason is rising prices, inflation, people who can’t make ends meet,” she says. “The other is people who don’t have to work for whatever reason, but they need to keep themselves busy by doing something they are interested in, as opposed to letting their minds rot. So those are two different groups of people: people who have to work and people who want to work for the satisfaction of work.”
According to Strojny, there are many benefits to businesses hiring older employees. They are more experienced, motivated and are typically loyal to the companies that they work for.
“The benefits are older employees come from another generation, where generally they took work very seriously,” she says. “So, what that translates into for the employer, is older workers are generally more dependable, more self-directed, and generally low-maintenance employees.”
Labor shortages
In a labor market where many industries, such as health care, are facing staff shortages, having another source of professional workers is another added benefit.
Despite all benefits of hiring once-retired workers, age discrimination is often an obstacle for those returning to the workforce, especially in Maine where many of the available jobs lie in hospitality work.
“In Maine, we have an abundance of hospitality work, which doesn’t normally lend itself to someone retired. Not because they can’t do it,” Strojny says. “But because there’s an age bias. If you are going to hire someone as a server, generally the employer will want to hire someone young. The employer’s perception, which in some cases may be a reality, is that younger means quicker. And so, the fact remains that we still need more hospitality workers.”
As part of her position at SCORE Mentors, Strojny helps people of all ages develop their professional skills and achieve their business goals. She advises older employees to become familiar with basic technology to become more competitive in the job market. Learning how to text, email, use apps, and be up to date on current affairs, can help boost an older person’s chances of succeeding during a job interview. Keeping skills sharp, especially for those who have been out of the workforce for some time, is key.
“Age bias can be mitigated by preparation. So how you dress, how you look. It doesn’t matter what your age is, but how you present yourself is really the important part,” she says.
4 tips for reentering the workforce
Whether someone is looking to retire or preparing their skills to return to the workforce, Strojny offers four tips:
- Be honest with yourself in terms of how you think you’re going to spend your time.
- Assess hobbies or interests you have to see if those could bring you more satisfaction or help you acquire different skill sets.
- Check out volunteering since often giving back is one of the best ways to know you’re contributing to something larger than yourself.
- Start small. If you’ve had a big corporate career, you may be thinking that you must have some major master plan, but often it’s small steps such as pursuing different interests and hobbies that lead to new opportunities.
Retired Mainers who are going back to work are changing the game for Maine’s labor market. Regardless of their motivations, these older professionals are taking their work experience and perspectives back into the field with them and redefining what “retirement” means.
“I believe that the most successful older people are what I call lifelong learners. They never just sit around, doing the same thing. They’re out taking classes, doing hobbies. It can be hard to restart your engine, but these individuals are out doing something and trying,” Strojny said.
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