Boomers are rejecting the retirement vision of endless days of leisure and are embracing encore careers, writes Chris Satullo in his column in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer.

“As this huge cohort has done every time it entered a new phase of life, the boomers are going to rearrange the furniture,” he says.

Satullo argues that this sea change will occur because, “They’re going to want to. They’re going to have to. And America is going to need them to.”

What’s surprising, he notes, is how little employers, government and Madison Avenue have done to prepare for the coming influx of people working longer.

“The notion of a leisurely ‘golden age’ full of golf carts, Greek Isles and golden retrievers romping beside you on the beach was itself a Madison Avenue concoction,” he writes. “It was sold hard to ‘greatest generation’ Americans on behalf of Sun Belt developers, financial firms and employers eager to make room for the cheap, plentiful boomers.”

With their pensions, investments and home values all shrinking, many Americans aren’t buying that notion anymore.

While their desire to work longer is fueled by financial need, Satullo says boomers are latching onto the idea of encore careers because they want to help make the world a better place. He quotes Marc Freedman, president of Civic Ventures: “Encore career is a radically optimistic notion. You won’t make more money or become more famous, but you might be doing the most essential work of your life, with heart and soul.”

By working longer, boomers also will help fund the Social Security system which was designed back in 1945, when Americans lived, on average, 12 years less than they do now.

And they’re needed. As members of the plentiful boomer generation leave the workplace, there are not enough skilled workers to take their places.

Attitude adjustments are in order, Satullo says, for employers who don’t value older workers but suddenly find themselves facing workforce shortages. Legislation currently pending in Congress could make it easier for boomers to get the training some need to transition to encore careers.

He concludes, “Whether such changes arrive quickly or slowly, the encore career is headed to center stage. Once the shock of an old myth’s collapse wears off, expect employers, and the nation, to applaud.”