SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CAREERS / PART-TIME CAREERS : Seniors Find Jobs Are a Way to Keep Active and Involved
At age 65, after the death of her husband, Muriel Moss decided she wanted to enjoy life more. So she quit her full-time job and switched to working part time. Now almost 73, she works three days a week at Variety Staffing Services in Westwood as a credit and collections manager.
She says she loves working part time and is no less committed to her job on the days she’s there. But she’s happy to have four other days to fill with friends, classes and grandchildren.
“I love working,” she said. “But as soon as I walk away from it, I’m finished.”
Moss is one of a growing number of older Americans, many past the traditional retirement age of 65, who work part time. There are currently more than 4 million part-time workers 55 or older in the work force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The reasons why older employees work part time vary. For many, including Moss, part-time work allows them to continue to do what they love, but also to enjoy more leisure time. Money is usually a factor, though not always the primary consideration. “Without it, I’d do OK,” Moss said. “With it, I’m doing much better.”
For others, economics is more important. They worry that their Social Security, pension and savings won’t keep pace with inflation or be enough to support them for the rest of their lives. They figure a part-time job could help make up the difference.
Some may be supporting adult children or offspring of second marriages. Others, victims of the current wave of corporate downsizing, would like to work full time, but part-time or temporary work is all that is available. Many Social Security recipients between ages 62 and 69 decide to work part time to avoid forfeiting some or all of their Social Security benefits.
For Sigrid Deeds, who retired from her full-time position as coordinator of the public health graduate program at Cal State Long Beach last June at age 70, working part time has brought personal as well as economic advantages. Now a public health consultant, she continues to write and teach. Working “gives me a chance to interact with people and keep my brain active,” Deeds said. It also imposes some structure on her life, but allows her to move at a slower pace.
Deeds said working part time has given her the means to travel, buy computer software and give fancy presents to her children. Having a job also keeps her independent. “I figure I don’t have to worry about my income as long as I’m working,” she said.
With many people retiring earlier and living longer, working beyond retirement makes sense, Deeds said. “If you retire at age 60, you could live another 30 years. That’s a hell of a long time to sit on the porch.”
Sitting on the porch is something that grows old pretty fast for many retirees, observes Paula Shatkin, a licensed clinical social worker and casework supervisor at Freda Mohr Multiservice Center, a senior center run by the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.
“I think almost everyone wants to work unless they’re really old and know they can’t,” she said. Many who come into her office are bored and searching for meaning in their lives. “They’ve traveled and fished and cleaned out their closets--and then what?” Shatkin said.
However, many senior job hunters often run into age discrimination, Shatkin says. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes not. Shatkin has heard such stories, including one of a woman in her 60s or 70s going to a job interview with a resume showing her competence in the field, only to be queried pointedly about her computer experience and asked, “Wouldn’t it be difficult for you to be on your feet all day, ma’am?”
Even if companies don’t openly discriminate (it’s prohibited by federal law), many have preconceived ideas about the capabilities of workers in their 50s, 60s and 70s, according to Cynthia Partamian, acting director of Second Careers Program, a nonprofit employment and training agency for older workers. When she makes presentations to companies, Partamian said she tries to open their minds to the broader experience, abilities and reliability of more mature workers.
Increasingly, corporations are recognizing the value of re-employing their retired workers. Transamerica Occidental Life Cos. in Los Angeles offers workers a retirement package that includes registering with Second Careers to work for Transamerica or some other company on a temporary basis. A similar program has been in effect at Arco since 1982, Partamian said.
Finding meaningful employment can be just as important to those over 60 as it is to those in their 30s or 40s. For 64-year-old Ana Pena, her work is a kind of mission. A bookkeeper until about four years ago, Pena tired of dealing with numbers and wanted to get involved with people. So she took a training course in caring for the elderly through Jewish Family Service, and now makes daily visits to the homes of people ranging in age from 70 to more than 100.
A native of Chile, she says her job, which is about 25 to 30 hours a week, gives her independence and makes her feel needed. With no husband or children to take up her time, she says she gives the same care to her elderly charges as she lavished on her own parents and grandparents in Chile. Even though a nephew tells her she could make more money if she worked in the computer field, Pena says she’s very happy. “I feel I do something good.”
