While the pandemic has set off “the Great Resignation” (with many people pursuing work more meaningful to them), older adults are being swept up in “the Great Retirement.” That is, older adults retiring early and leaving the workforce.
In the third quarter of 2020, in the U.S., close to 30 million boomers left work for retirement. And research conducted by Pew Research Center shows that it was greatly influenced by the pandemic, with the Covid-19 outbreak forcing the issue. And it only grew from there. According to this article from Forbes, a survey conducted by Coventry revealed that more than 75 percent of people surveyed plan to retire early. This makes sense after all when you consider that the pandemic has forced us all to think about what makes us happy, and how we want to fill the time we have doing the things we find fulfilling, and not at work.
Consider too that people close to retirement are at greater risk when it comes to Covid-19; this left this demographic isolated and lonely. The Forbes article also pointed out that those still working through the pandemic have been forced into grappling with technology in order to both work and keep in touch with friends and family.
The article goes on to point out that corporations have been cutting costs and have done so partly by letting go of middle management positions, many of which are held by people aged 40 and older. And then when you look at job opportunities, many ask for only a few years of experience and have thinly veiled terms that hint that older workers need not apply.
For more about “the Great Retirement” trend and its implications, you can read the full Forbes article here.
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