They are all unemployed late in their careers, but they do not want to retire. In fact, given the costs of living in retirement, they need to keep working. But all three are faced with a similar set of challenges that a growing number of older job seekers will have to confront in the years ahead. First, they need to negotiate a job market that, in many instances, holds their age against them.

They must also find new ways to communicate their own special value to potential employers. And, at the same time, they have to deal with their own mounting ambivalence about working for pay at a time when they thought they would be close to or in retirement.
This study combines three components: indepth qualitative interviews with 24 leading older-worker job coaches and employment
agencies, 21 older employees (retirees and job seekers), and a national survey of 1,242 employed/retired/job-seeking adults ages 55 to 70 years old. While the sample includes adults ages 55 to 70, Baby Boomers (those born 1946– 1964) represent the majority and therefore are the primary focus of this study.

These expert observations, personal experiences, and national data explore the disconnect between those in their late fifties and sixties who aspire to continue working and the realities of a job market that tends to treat many older job candidates as, at best, irrelevant. It also showswhat aging Boomers will have to do in the next few years to be successful in the changing employment market.

Aging Boomers may both need and want to work longer than previous generations, or longer than they may have anticipated. The accompanying MetLife Aging Boomer Job Market survey confirmed the findings from the extensive interviews conducted. It found that for U.S. residents ages 55 to 70—who are still working or seeking work—the average age at which respondents expect to stop working for pay is about 70, and that goes up to almost 76 for those ages 66 to 70.

Thanks in part to the recent recession, many older Boomers do not have the retirement savings needed to support them into their mideighties. And about three-quarters of today’s workers report they expect to work for pay after they retire.

Unfortunately, the current job market has other ideas. Historically, fewer than 35% of retirees actually report working for pay after retirement. This study examines the realities of the job market that produces such disappointing results, and suggests solutions for both job seekers competing in the job marketplace and employers looking to remain competitive in attracting and retaining productive employees.