Monday, April 30, 2007
Tweet[IWS] AARP: NEW MEXICO--OLDER WORKFORCE--Employer Focus [April 2007]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
AARP Policy & Research
Looking Toward an Older Workforce: A Focus on New Mexico Employers
Research Report
Regina Sims, AARP Knowledge Management
Joanne Binette, M.P.A., AARP Knowledge Management
April 2007
http://www.aarp.org/research/work/retirement/nm_worker_07.html
or
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/nm_worker_07.pdf
[full-text, 42 pages]
With 54 percent of New Mexico's total workforce currently age 45 or older, the state's employers are likely to be experiencing shortages of qualified workers in the next five years. At the same time, workers approaching what is considered traditional retirement age may, for a variety of reasons, be more likely to remain in the labor force. This AARP survey of randomly selected New Mexican employers with three or more workers assesses their awareness of and readiness for dealing with these trends.
Of the 437 surveyed employers...
* 78 percent are aware of the impending worker shortage, but only 24 percent have taken steps to prepare for it
* 75 percent consider retaining institutional knowledge that is lost when employees retire or leave to be highly important, but only 30 percent have a formal process for enabling departing workers to share knowledge they have obtained on the job
* 63 percent currently use at least one strategy for encouraging and allowing older workers to work past the traditional retirement age while 44 percent use none
Strategies currently being used most frequently in New Mexico include:
* providing training to upgrade skills
* hiring retired employees as consultants or temporary employees
* easing into retirement with reduced schedules
* offering part-time work without benefits
The mail survey was conducted from October 13th to November 17, 2006, using a random sampling of businesses provided by Wilkerson & Associates. Further information about the survey may be obtained by contacting the report's co-author, Joanne Binette, at 202-434-6303. (39 pages)
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
AARP Policy & Research
Looking Toward an Older Workforce: A Focus on New Mexico Employers
Research Report
Regina Sims, AARP Knowledge Management
Joanne Binette, M.P.A., AARP Knowledge Management
April 2007
http://www.aarp.org/research/work/retirement/nm_worker_07.html
or
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/nm_worker_07.pdf
[full-text, 42 pages]
With 54 percent of New Mexico's total workforce currently age 45 or older, the state's employers are likely to be experiencing shortages of qualified workers in the next five years. At the same time, workers approaching what is considered traditional retirement age may, for a variety of reasons, be more likely to remain in the labor force. This AARP survey of randomly selected New Mexican employers with three or more workers assesses their awareness of and readiness for dealing with these trends.
Of the 437 surveyed employers...
* 78 percent are aware of the impending worker shortage, but only 24 percent have taken steps to prepare for it
* 75 percent consider retaining institutional knowledge that is lost when employees retire or leave to be highly important, but only 30 percent have a formal process for enabling departing workers to share knowledge they have obtained on the job
* 63 percent currently use at least one strategy for encouraging and allowing older workers to work past the traditional retirement age while 44 percent use none
Strategies currently being used most frequently in New Mexico include:
* providing training to upgrade skills
* hiring retired employees as consultants or temporary employees
* easing into retirement with reduced schedules
* offering part-time work without benefits
The mail survey was conducted from October 13th to November 17, 2006, using a random sampling of businesses provided by Wilkerson & Associates. Further information about the survey may be obtained by contacting the report's co-author, Joanne Binette, at 202-434-6303. (39 pages)
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 9:13 AM
