Turning the Great Resignation into an opportunity
As the workforce undergoes unprecedented churn because of COVID-19, civic-minded organizations need to recruit and welcome retirees as volunteers
I had the pleasure of attending this year’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Wisconsin. It was a bucket-list experience marred by only one thing: very poor service at hotels and restaurants because of the labor shortage.
Unlike the local businesses, the Ryder Cup handled about 40,000 spectators a day very efficiently, despite the lack of workers and the operations barriers posed by COVID-19 protocols. I mentioned the contrast between service at the golf match and at service-related businesses to my son, and he pointed out a simple explanation: Many of the workers at the Ryder Cup were volunteers, most of them retirees with relevant experience. In fact, you have to apply to be a volunteer at the Ryder Cup and they are picky about who they accept.
Businesses obviously cannot replicate the Ryder Cup staffing model. But it occurred to me that there still is a lesson that could be applied to the labor shortage, which journalists and economists have labeled as the “Great Resignation.” Retirees don’t have to be part of the work force to help communities thrive and to plug labor gaps. This is an important lesson because of all the pandemic-related trends the thousands of workers who are leaving their jobs could have the longest-term impact. In September alone, 4.4 million workers left their jobs nationwide, according to a U.S. Labor Department report.
This potential source of volunteer power has received too little attention, which is understandable because the Great Resignation as a policy problem has several layers. Some workers simply are taking advantage of a supply-demand labor equation that makes it easier for workers to find a job that better meets their personal needs and goals. Some have temporarily left the workforce to reduce exposure to COVID19 and/or help care for family members. Others are leaving the workforce for good, retiring because they were nearing retirement age when COVID-19 changed the nature of both work and life and made them re-appraise their goals. These are the workers, or former workers, that I want to concentrate on in this column.
Former workers make up a larger reserve of labor / volunteerism than folks may realize. As of the third quarter of 2021, according to the most recent quarterly statistics from The Pew Research Center, 50.3% of U.S. adults 55 and older said they were out of the labor force due to retirement. In the third quarter of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic, 48.1% of those adults were retired. For those 65 to 74 years old, the number retired was 66.9% compared with 64.0% in the same quarter of 2019. This trend is having geographic effects on the labor market, too. As Oregon and other states are losing older workers to retirement, those still in the workforce appear to be staying where they are instead of moving to Portland. The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis recently looked at pandemic migration trends and determined that workers are not moving to Portland during the during the pandemic.
While some of the stagnation in migration likely is due to pandemic factors, the demographic trends helping push many into retirement will continue after COVID-19 recedes. That leaves Oregon, and other states, with two primary challenges: Persuade retirees to stay here and find ways to keep them engaged with the community.
When it comes to retaining and attracting retirees, there’s not a lot that states can do in the short term. More than half of workers stay where the live when they retire. Another 25 percent move to be closer to adult children and grandchildren. Throw in weather and most retirees either never move or move because of factors that state policy-makers cannot influence. For these reasons, I want to focus primarily on how to keep retirees who choose to live in Oregon happy and involved in the community rather than how to attract them.
First, retirees want a lot of the same things that people who are still working want. They want to feel safe. They want good health care. They want things to do. They want to be able to move about easily, which can become more difficult as you age. And they want to feel like they are part of a community.
More than anything, retirees want security. That’s why proximity to family is important. So is health care, with surveys placing it near the top of retirees’ concerns. Thankfully, that’s an area where Oregon compares well with other states. Bankrate.com ranks Oregon 14th for “wellness,” a category that includes health care and related factors, in its retirement ratings. But to truly make retirees feel secure, Oregon must make progress on homelessness, housing affordability and crime.
Second, another area that Oregon should emphasize is creating community for retirees. The Villages in Florida often is parodied, but there’s a reason that 80,000-resident planned retirement community continues to grow. It provides instant community for those who move there. I wouldn’t want to live there, but there are other ways to build community – ways that benefit the entire community, not just retirees. And it involves the example I started this column with – volunteers.
Oregon retirees are involved in volunteer efforts to do everything from cleaning up after natural disasters, to housing the homeless to helping public schools with collect supplies and keep their grounds clean. Some also do volunteer writing and editing for blogs. I’ve done all these things, but it takes some effort to locate opportunities.
I’ve connected with organizations through my church, Parkside Fellowship in Beaverton, which has several partnerships with community organizations. I’m also familiar with volunteer agencies through my career as a journalist. Many retirees don’t have those connections. Oregon nonprofits, faith organizations and government agencies need to collaborate to create clearing houses that make it as easy as possible to volunteer. If we don’t, we will be wasting one of the most valuable and accessible resources of the next decade – retirees.
Author bio
Mark worked 20 years at The Oregonian in positions including business editor & editorial writer. He currently is a communications consultant.
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Photo credit: "Day 339: Only for Now" by quinn.anya is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0