Committed To The Job

Bonnie Ayres tugs at the red bracelet around her wrist with the words “Be Strong” inscribed on the band. The gift from her grandson serves as a reminder to the 66-year-old to maintain her health and keep working.

Her grandson, 14, wears a bracelet given to him by his grandmother from Children’s Miracle Network. He has muscular dystrophy.

“I told him, ‘Cody, I’ll wear this forever.’ If that boy can be strong, anyone can be.”

Ayres smiles as she pulls an old photograph of herself from her purse. At 110 pounds heavier and faced with congestive heart failure and diabetes, she was “a mess.”

She worked at Spiffy’s Cleaners in Rogers for nearly seven years before her health failed. When she left the hospital, she possessed a new perspective on life. With her husband still working and 10 children gone from the home, she was ready to re-enter the work force.

Many older Americans like Ayres want to continue working for financial and personal fulfillment well into the sunset of their lives. More than half of the work force in Pulaski, Washington and Faulkner counties is 45 and older, according to information from the 2000 U.S. Census.

A call to Ayres’ local unemployment office linked her with friend and mentor JoLynn Dunavant at Experience Works.

Training involved computer classes, which landed her a job as a receptionist at Experience Works. Ayres eventually returned to the dry cleaning business and is able to drive a truck, take orders and do some laundry — everything but press, which is too taxing, she said.

“I have great co-workers and no complaints. I’m not ready to retire and will keep working as long as I can. I’m lucky.”

She has lived in Rogers 32 years, moving here from Minnesota. Although she has experienced some discrimination throughout the years, it’s nothing she could prove.

“I felt like a temp agency didn’t want to hire me because they thought I was too old, but I wanted to continue working for financial reasons, and to be out doing something.

“Older people are more reliable. I only missed one day of work last year and haven’t been late. More young people are likely to call in sick,” she added.

The photo on the restaurant table reveals a much heavier and unsmiling woman. She smoked, used a cane and was taking 10 medications a day. Today Ayres is down to two daily medications and hasn’t smoked a cigarette in three years.

Her smile reveals pretty cheekbones framed by soft layers of silver hair. Ayres is oblivious to the smokers surrounding her in Waffle Hut.

Her new motto is “Deal with it.”

“When older people give up, that’s when they get sick. I find the more I do, the more I want to do. My advice to older workers: Don’t give up. That’s what makes you old.”

Call To Action

Baby boomers, people born between 1946 and 1964, anticipate working into their golden years. A study by The Conference Board, a nonprofit organization working to help businesses strengthen their performances, found of those working, 52 percent plan to work part time and only 10 percent plan to pursue traditional retirement.

That’s good news for companies across the nation, as the labor force will experience a shortage of qualified workers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up to 43 percent of the current work force will be eligible to retire in the next 10 years, while 61 percent of people entering the work force ages 16 to 25 are not fully qualified.

Arkansas was chosen as a pilot state, along with Arizona, Iowa and Mississippi, to participate in a work force initiative by the national AARP office linking mature workers with featured employers.

Gov. Mike Huckabee has selected the initiative as one of his priorities for the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board.

“The main point of this initiative is to make employers aware of workers who do want to work and connect them with employers,” said Kimberly Friedman, communication director for the Department of Workforce Services in Little Rock.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 62 million Americans — nearly one in every five — will be 65 or older by the year 2020.

Jobs with incentives like increased flexibility in hours and more employment opportunities may appeal more to mature workers, researchers said in a study from Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic and social policy research organization based in Washington.

The July 2003 study also reported about 1.5 million mature workers said they would remain on jobs longer if employers would offer them fewer hours with proportionate pay.

Healthy retirees with 10 to 30 years of life expectancy are becoming the largest untapped source of potential labor in the economy, according to Urban Institute.

Yet they continue to face disincentives to work, due to an archaic employee compensation system designed when the goal was to get rid of long-term, high-cost workers and replace them with relatively less expensive younger workers, researches said.

Because of the sheer magnitude of the baby boomer generation, age discrimination will become a focal point, said Kathy Deck, associate director for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

Northwest Arkansas has a “very tight” labor market, with unemployment hovering around 3 percent, Deck said.

“Employers may have difficulties finding and retaining good employees. The problem is exacerbated as the baby boomer generation becomes old enough to retire,” she said.

The Social Security Administration states workers may receive Social Security benefits at 62, but benefits are reduced if one retires before his full retirement age. Full retirement age is 65 for people born before 1938. Social Security law has changed to gradually increase the full retirement age until it reaches 67, affecting people born in 1938 or later.

Studies indicate older workers are going into second and third careers, Deck said, which means employers will still be able to use that part of the talent pool.

“Older workers have experience, which I see as a benefit to companies. A drawback is salaries are generally higher with more experienced workers.

“A lot of companies look at the bottom line and start offering early retirement packages. So older workers who are in the work force for a longer time can be a big benefit or drawback, depending on how you look at it,” Deck said.

Breaking The Gray Ceiling

Age discrimination is rife with stereotypes found in television commercials and products like Hallmark’s Maxine cards with their message of over-the-hillness.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 is designed to protect individuals who are at least 40 years old from employment discrimination based on age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignments and training.

When Jerry Welch was 55 and recovering from his cancer surgery, he couldn’t find a job. He’d been off work a year and his illness had depleted his income.

“I almost didn’t make it and came close to living out of my car,” Welch said.

Welch said it was hard to prove discrimination, but “when you put in 10 applications and don’t get a call back, it can leave that impression,” he said.

Now 60, Welch commutes from Bentonville three nights a week, working from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., for his job as a security guard at Wal-Mart Supercenter Vision Center in Fayetteville.

It’s the only job he could get, he said, but, “it’s a good one.”

Welch relocated from El Dorado, where he had worked “odd jobs.” Experience Works placed him with Helping Hands in Bentonville. He helped set up the bookstore area there until the job at Wal-Mart was available.

Mature workers seek every type of job imaginable, said Susan Daniel, operations manager at the Arkansas Workforce Center in Fayetteville.

“Some folks are looking for second careers in areas of interest, as opposed to making money. I’ve seen everything from social services to arts and humanities.”

Others who have been professionals go into consulting. And some are greeters at Wal-Mart or cleaning tables at fast-food restaurants, Daniel said.

Retail giants have taken note. Peter G. Peterson, author of “Gray Dawn,” wrote, “As the McDonald’s chain demonstrated in its highly effective intergenerational ad campaign, the part-time senior service worker can be a huge customer draw.”

The corporation estimates 40,000 of its older workers serve customers every day.

McDonald’s has taken a proactive approach with its ReHIREment program. It promotes flexible scheduling and ease of transition for older workers returning to the work force.

Not all companies are prepared for an aging work force. Studies gathered at The Center on Aging & Work at Boston College reported 80 percent of businesses have not established employment options for older workers, 60 percent of chief executive officers do not consider the aging work force in strategic planning and only 8 percent of firms have formal policies for phased retirement.

Brave New World

When Gwen Walker, 58, searched for a job, she said employers rebuked her for lack of training. Her first job was as a waitress at the bus depot in Fayetteville at 17 years old.

She earned 75 cents an hour and worked seven days a week. Walker bought two outfits for $29 with her first paycheck.

Past jobs have all been factory work at Baldwin Piano for 20 years, then Campbell’s Soup and Levi’s.

“I developed rheumatoid arthritis and thought I couldn’t do anything. The people I work with are patient and stop and show me things when I need help.”

She is a receptionist for Sources For Community Independent Living Services in Fayetteville. The sitting job frees her legs and feet from stress.

Finding someone who was willing to train Walker was part of her positive experience at work, she said.

Another intimidating factor for mature workers is technology, said Reba Patanella, head coordinator for SeniorNet at the Benton County Senior Activity Center in Bentonville.

The classes offered there are for people age 50 and older to help them become familiar with the computer and popular software like Microsoft Word and Quicken.

“No matter what you do, if you try to be a cashier in a store, you have to know a little bit. People can teach you so much on a job, but not everything,” Patanella said.

Ken Dychwald, a gerontology researcher and author of “Age Power: How the 21st Century will Be Ruled by the New Old,” says that retiring baby boomers will likely transform old age as they’ve transformed everything else.

“Now, the boomers may live much longer and healthier and many may want to continue working — in a much different way than they did before.

They have the ability to redefine work to fit themselves — and after all — there won’t be many alternatives for employers in need of talent.”

Still Going Strong

Fleeta Clark is 87 and still working as a receptionist and water clerk for Winslow. Work ethic was a part of her upbringing.

She left high school during the Great Depression to help her father with his farm. And later, as a wife and mother of five, she worked at Burns Gable restaurant in Winslow, baking huckleberry pies each weekend.

Clark also worked at Baldwin Furniture in the painting department for 18 years. In 1984, her husband died and she was diagnosed with cancer.

After her recovery, she wanted to re-enter the work force. Founded in 1965, Green Thumb, now Experience Works, helped her obtain a job.

The program provides training and resources for low-income workers.

When the city purchased a new computer billing system, she returned to school to learn computing skills.

She’s worked at the water department for about 24 years and loves her job, she said.

“I enjoy the congeniality at my job. I’ve met so many people I otherwise wouldn’t have, and they’ve all been wonderful,” Clark said.

She was recognized last year along with other outstanding older workers as part of the Experience Works Prime Time Awards program in Washington.

Clark is one of JoLynn Dunavant’s many success stories. Dunavant is the field operations coordinator for Northwest Arkansas division of Experience Works. She oversees 128 people in Benton, Washington, Crawford, Sebastian, Madison, Franklin, Logan, Carroll, Boone, Newton and Johnson counties, keeping track of each one 13 months after they gain employment.

Most people Dunavant encounters are women, she said, since women’s salaries are less than men’s, so they receive Social Security checks with a lot less money for monthly budgets.

The average applicant’s age is 65 to 70, with the youngest allowed being 55. Northwest Arkansas is a tighter market for Dunavant and her workers, she said. She maintains a list of Web sites and Internet job listings in her Rogers office.

In many applicants, Dunavant said she sees a lack of self-confidence.

“They go to interviews, put in applications and have a hard time getting hired. They have never made a resume in their lives and basically shook someone’s hand and got a job.

We’re here to start them over and teach them there is a system where they dress for success and tell people what they can do and be sure they are able to prove it.”

Q&A

Linda Adams, 59, kitchen helper at the Benton County Senior Activity Center in Bentonville:

Q: What was the first job you had?

A: Working at the turkey plant. It used to be Purina and is now Cargill.

Q: How did you obtain this job?

A: I found it through Experience Works.

Q: How are you treated by co-workers and supervisors?

A: I’m treated good by co-workers and my supervisor. I enjoy cooking, but I mostly help and clean up. My family was large; Mother had 16 kids, and I still enjoy cooking.

Q: Why did you decide to stay in the work force?

A: My husband died, so I needed the income, since his had been the only source.

Q: When would you like to retire?

A: I really don’t know.

Q: What is your advice for other mature workers seeing to re-enter the job market?

A: I say ‘go for it.’

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