Linda Stewart taps experienced boomers to fill worker shortages.

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Linda Stewart heard from many of her fellow baby boomers that they didn't want traditional employment but they didn't want traditional retirement, either.

So, after 25 years in the financial industry, she launched Epoch last year to match experienced workers with specific tasks beyond an employer's capacities. Stewart asks CEOs to name three or four initiatives that aren’t moving ahead fast enough. Then she matches them with specialists who can fill those needs.

Epoch, based in Boston, is currently focused solely on private sector talent needs. But the "temporary leader" model might be useful to help a broader set of experienced adults find projects that could lead to encore careers in the social sector. Instead of making an abrupt shift to a new career, experienced workers looking for a new challenge might be deployed to accomplish specific assignments during a set period of time in the fields of education, health care, government and the nonprofit sector.

A Boston Globe column by Dale Dauten cites a company seeking to open an office in China. Stewart offered a woman who had opened offices there several times in the past. The company got its new office without having to hire another employee, and the woman, who had tired of working in a typical corporate environment, was free to take time off when she turned the office over to someone else, six months later.