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TAPPING ENCORE TALENT: Employers try it -- and like it

Posted 10/15/2008 - 5:38pm by Terry Nagel
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Irene Stillings, a former business development executive, leads a meeting at the California Center for Sustainable Energy.
TAPPING ENCORE TALENT: Employers try it -- and like it

Experienced boomers want meaningful work. Nonprofit organizations need talented employees. A new survey of hundreds of employers shows that supply and demand may finally be coming together.

The Tapping Encore Talent survey by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures found that half of nonprofit employers see encore employees as “highly appealing,” citing their experience, commitment and reliability. And those who have recently hired late-career workers are even more positive.

But many nonprofit employers continue to have “serious concerns” — that encore workers could cost more in salaries and benefits, be reluctant to learn new technology and lack technical/professional skills.

Tellingly, the concerns are least pressing for employers with the most experience with encore workers. The survey found that seven out of 10 nonprofit employers rated the experience that encore workers bring to the job as a significant benefit.

“It’s encouraging that some pioneering nonprofits are already enthusiastic proponents of encore workers,” said Sibyl Jacobson, president and CEO of the MetLife Foundation.

The report includes to-do list of what can be done to encourage more nonprofits to hire encore workers.

The talent shortage at many nonprofit organizations, combined with the economic slowdown, increases the urgency of making a better match between nonprofit employers and experienced Americans seeking encore careers. An earlier MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey of individuals found that as many as 8.4 million Americans 44-70 years old have already launched encore careers. And of those workers aged 44-70 who are not already in encore careers, half are interested in them.

“Are boomers all dressed up with no place to go?” asks Phyllis Segal, vice president of Civic Ventures, in an essay accompanying the survey. “Our first survey showed tremendous interest among boomers for work that matters. This survey asks nonprofit employers whether they see a match. The answer for most is a tentative yes, with an appreciation of benefits and some concerns about uncharted territory.”