Retiring doesn’t need to be the final step in your career. You may decide that returning to the workforce is what you need to maintain motivation, serve your community, or try something new.
Across the country, “unretirement” — the trend of people retiring and then going back to work, often with a different type of job — is becoming more prevalent. Those experienced workers are also bringing valuable experience to the workplace.
“Sixty-five-plus are the most educated generation,” says Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP.
Research shows that if you stay working, you stay more active and social and also experience health benefits, Roszkowski says. She adds that many workplaces now offer more flexible work arrangements — such as beginning work at 10 a.m. to accommodate taking loved ones to appointments in the mornings.
Since the majority of people no longer work in blue-collar jobs such as farming or manual labor, office jobs allow them to work longer. Roszkowski says people are living longer, which extends their working lives.
We spoke to several Virginians about their unretirement experiences and the value of multigenerational teams.
Facts and Figures
A recent AARP study revealed that 7% of retirees age 50 or older have unretired or reentered the workforce. While 48% said their primary reason for returning to work is to make money, 14% said they want to stay active and avoid social isolation. And they feel they have more to give.
“Especially for older workers, many are worried they’re not going to have enough money saved for retirement. … We know from the same survey that among people who have retired, 28% say they have retired too early,” Roszkowski says.
AARP research shows the health care industry, hospitality industry, and seasonal work such as recreation jobs are seeing an increase in older workers because of flexibility. Depending on expertise, people may want to continue in a corporate field or try something more purpose driven.
Susan Washington, human resources director for Prince William County, believes the increase in unretirement is because people want to continue to find passion in the work they do. “The county has seen more people who will join us as a second career following a full retirement from another locality,” Washington says. “We have also seen many employees who stay well beyond the year they would otherwise have been eligible to retire.”
Finding Purpose
Leesburg resident Kelly Keim reentered the workforce because she wanted to stay busy and mentally stimulated.
“If you don’t have something like hobbies to keep you busy throughout the day, you get bored quickly,” says Keim, who’s in her mid-50s.
Keim previously worked as a vice president of a Sterling-based tech support company. After a year-and-a-half in retirement, she now works at Carfax in Centreville as manager of project services.
“Most people who are professionals need a purpose in life,” she says.
“It’s tough to think about retiring right now because of the economy,” Keim says. “That’s not necessarily the reason I’m going back, but things are so expensive right now, and there’s unplanned money that you need to spend to eat, put gas in your car, and have a roof over your head.”
‘Silver Wave’
Although he retired from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) in 2019, Charles “Chuck” Stiff returned a few years later with a newfound mission to give back to his community. To him, retirement wasn’t an ending, but rather the freedom to serve and help others grow.
“I’ve been in my current role for three years at DOLI’s headquarters in Richmond,” Stiff says. “My entire career has been attached to public service in one form or another. And I’ve enjoyed 42 years in a career that serves and protects workers.”
Stiff says returning to public service as DOLI’s deputy commissioner has allowed him to expand his influence from one corporation to the entirety of Virginia’s workforce.
“The hours are intense and far beyond what I expected, but the opportunity to help drive growth and transformation across the agency has made the effort worthwhile,” he says.
Among his peers, Stiff is seeing more of a “silver wave,” referring to the growing number of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age and choosing to return to the workforce.
Stiff says unretirees bring deep institutional knowledge, a strong work ethic, and high reliability. This wave can also support the development of younger generations across sectors.
“Traditionally, [retirement] is defined as the point where you stop working — a time for hobbies, rest, and stepping away from responsibility,” Stiff says. “To me, retirement represents a transition from having to work to being able to give back. Simply put, it represents freedom to choose.”
Team Work
Roszkowski says organizations that have multigenerational teams are seeing benefits with innovative mentoring programs where younger people learn from older people and vice versa.
“All the research shows that having multigenerational teams brings more creativity and problem solving,” she says.
In AARP’s survey, 77% of all workers said they value older colleagues for the experience they bring to their jobs.
Stiff has had the opportunity to watch multiple generations work through complex challenges and approach them with creativity and adaptation.
“It’s exciting to watch multigenerational teams huddle up, explore challenges from different angles, and shape results that truly matter,” Stiff says
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
This story originally ran in our July issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
