An O*NET Academy Briefing: O*NET Tools for the Older Worker

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An ONET Academy Briefing ONET Tools for the
Older Worker

• Presented by
• Dr. Janet Wall
• Sr. Trainer, ONET Academy

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Webinar Objectives

• Review information about the aging of the US
  population
• Recognize some trends in the aging population
• Describe the situation faced by older workers and
  the workforce
• Suggest some tools that can assist older workers
  to consider their options in a changing world

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Background
In the 21st century, older Americans are expected
to make up a larger share of the U.S. population,
live longer, and spend more years in retirement
than previous generations. From Some Best
Practices and Strategies for Engaging and
Retaining Older Workers GAO Report
GAO-07-433T, January 2007
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65 in the United States by Wan He, Manisha
Sengupta, Victoria A. Velkoff,And Kimberly A.
DeBarros, Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Commerce, December, 2005.
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65 in the United States by Wan He, Manisha
Sengupta, Victoria A. Velkoff,And Kimberly A.
DeBarros, Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Commerce, December, 2005.
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65 in the United States by Wan He, Manisha
Sengupta, Victoria A. Velkoff,And Kimberly A.
DeBarros, Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Commerce, December, 2005.
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65 in the United States by Wan He, Manisha
Sengupta, Victoria A. Velkoff,And Kimberly A.
DeBarros, Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Commerce, December, 2005.
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65 in the United States by Wan He, Manisha
Sengupta, Victoria A. Velkoff,And Kimberly A.
DeBarros, Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Commerce, December, 2005.
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65 in the United States by Wan He, Manisha
Sengupta, Victoria A. Velkoff,And Kimberly A.
DeBarros, Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Commerce, December, 2005.
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65 in the United States by Wan He, Manisha
Sengupta, Victoria A. Velkoff,And Kimberly A.
DeBarros, Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Commerce, December, 2005.
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The Older Worker

• Over 55
• From 2000 to 2010, the number of older workers
  will increase from 18.2 million to 26.6 million
  (46 ?)
• Boomers are entering retirement age and will be
  leaving the workforce (tsunami)
• By 2020, all but the youngest boomers will be
  retirement age

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Problem for Employers

• Baby bust follows boomers leaving
• Fewer midlevel and executive talent follows.
• experts predict shortage of workers will prompt
  employers to keep workers on the job longer or
  hire back retirees
• Between 2000-2010, more job openings are
  projected to occur because of replacement needs
  (retirements, people changing occupations) than
  from the creation of new jobs
• 10 million unfilled jobs

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Employer Perceptions

• Financial disincentives including
• rising cost of health insurance
• training costs from hiring and retaining older
  workers.
• Lack of high value on their experienced workers
• Gearing succession planning toward replacing
  older workers with younger ones
• Negative stereotypes including
• belief that such workers produce lower-quality
  work than their younger counterparts
• less work overall.
• Belief that older workers are resistant to change
• Skills gap
• Fear of age discrimination lawsuits
• GAO-07-433T, January 2007
• GAO-07-438SP, February 2007

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Employer Incentives

• flexible work arrangements ( part time, flextime,
  consulting, short term projects)
• phased retirement
• flexible work locations away from the traditional
  office
• time off for for elder care
• snow bird program, which allows employees who
  live in different places during the year to work
  in both locations
• adapted job designs to accommodate the physical
  constraints of older workers
• hydraulic systems in all of its beds so the beds
  could fold into a sitting posture, a change that
  assisted older staff in moving patients.
• modified an assembly line so that cars on the
  line could be rotated to grant easier access for
  mechanics who were unable to lie down to work on
  cars
• benefits package health care, pension, employee
  discounts, etc.

GAO-07-433T, January 2007 GAO-07-438SP, February
2007
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Survey of Persons 50 and Over Attitudes Toward
Retirement
AARP Bulletin, January 2006 from an online
survey of 2167 workers in March 2005
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Financial Reason

• 28 of boomers say they will work part-time after
  retirement because they need the money or want
  the mental stimulation

65 in the United States by Wan He, Manisha
Sengupta, Victoria A. Velkoff,And Kimberly A.
DeBarros, Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Commerce, December, 2005.
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Most Common Changes Reported by Middle Aged or
Retired Persons
IMPACT OF CURRENT ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN AARP Survey
of 1000 people ages 45-65
http//assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/economy_surve
y.pdf May, 2008
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Other AARP Findings

• 16 - postponed plans to retire
• 16 - spouse postponed plans to retire
• 23 - prematurely withdrew funds from retirement
  savings
• 33 - stopped contributing to retirement savings
• 14 - cut back on medications
• 8 - moved to smaller house or apartment
• 8 - got a second job

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Employability for Older Worker

• Stay current and employable
• Welcome and learn technology
• Participate in training
• Stay open to new ideas
• Recognize where the opportunities are
• Focus on in-demand occupations where there are
  employment needs

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Smart to Focus on High Growth High Demand
Occupations
look at http//www.careervoyages.gov
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ONET System and Supporting Tools

• Find occupations that match ones skills (skill
  search)
• Identify skill gap between current and alternate
  occupation (skills gap analysis)
• Find education and training institutions
• Find local services to help you improve your job
  skills (service locator)

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Find Occupations to Match Ones
Skillshttp//online.onetcenter.org

• Example
• For 25 years,Sally has been working as a home
  health care practitioner. She has kept up her
  education through short courses and seminars.
  She is now 56 years old and is looking toward
  retirement with a better paying job with less
  physical exertion. She is willing to take
  additional coursework and training to upgrade her
  skills. She want to move to Florida in retirement.

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21 Matches
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Wages and Employment
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Observations

• Less physical exertion.
• Probably needs to obtain more training as this is
  a job zone 3 occupation, while home health care
  practitioner is job zone 2.
• Salary is about twice that of home health care.
• Occupation is growing slightly Florida.

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Skills Gap Analysis

• http//www.acinet.org/acinet/Skills/default.aspx
• Sally is wondering what skills she now has with
  her job as a home health care practitioner might
  apply to her new goal of respiratory therapy
  technician and what skills she needs to acquire.

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Use Keyword or Menu Search
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Identify Skills
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Identify Skills
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Rate Skills
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Select Work Activities
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Obtain Final Report
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Obtain Occupation List by Skill Match
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Obtain Occupation List by Work Activities
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Compare to Another Occupation
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Compare to Another Occupation
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Find Education and Training Opportunitieshttp//n
ces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool

• Sally wants to find a school where she can get
  training to become a respiratory therapy
  technician. The school needs to be in Florida
  where she plans to retire.

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Review List and Find Out More
Find out more about the institution and programs.
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Service Locator

• Or use http//www.servicelocator.org

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General Information
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Specific Services
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Review

• Gained information about the aging population
• Learned some statistics about the older worker
  and the workforce.
• Suggest some tools that can assist older workers
• skills search
• skill gap analysis
• find education and training opportunities
• find local services

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Any Burning Questions?
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Opportunities for You

• Spotlight www.onetknowledgesite.com
• Podcast audio interview
• User-Focused Webinars
• Contact sagesolutions_at_earthlink.net

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Supporting Webinars

• How to Download and Use the ONET Interest
  Profiler and Work Importance Profiler
• Overview of the ONET Ability Profiler
• How to Administer the ONET Ability Profiler
• How to Interpret the Ability Profiler
• Whole Person Assessment
• ONET Tools for Job Seekers and Students
• ONET Enhancements
• ONET for Military in Transition
• A Behind the Scenes Look at the ONET Data
  Collection Process
• Relationship Between Education, Occupations and
  Pay
• Tomorrows Jobs Today
• Tools and Technology