Retirees Are Ready to Rejoin the Workforce Postpandemic

Because of the pandemic, nearly one in four retirees say it is "extremely necessary" for them to return to work and generate income, according to a study by Bay Alarm Medical and cited by Employee Benefit News. Forty-five percent of retirees said they have already applied for remote-work gigs or jobs, even though almost half say there is a substantial technology skills gap to overcome. Almost half are considering working remotely 10-20 hours per week. Some workers are worried about returning to the workforce amid an anticipated competitive hiring frenzy. However, it's likely that there won't be any competition between retirees and newer job applicants because the two demographics are in search of different things from their prospective companies. Older workers are seeking gigs of less than 30 hours a week. Although older professionals are the demographic most willing to return to work once vaccines are distributed, more than half of all the remote professionals surveyed said they'd prefer to continue working remotely. Closing the digital divide will be necessary as older workers are hired. Companies such as PwC already have begun implementing programs to reskill and upskill their workers.