Preparing to Re-Enter the Workforce After Retirement was originally published on Ivy Exec.
If you’re returning to work after retiring, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re far from it.
“After dipping during the pandemic, ‘unretirements’ are on the rise due to a tight labor market, lessened pandemic concerns, and high inflation,” according to recent data released by Hiring Lab.
A Joblist survey also suggests that retirees are seeking to re-enter the workforce for a myriad of reasons, ranging from financial reasons to boredom.
Twenty-seven percent of respondents say they need the money, 21 percent are worried that inflation will keep chipping away at their retirement funds, and five percent are nervous about stock market volatility. That said, an impressive 60 percent are “looking for something to do,” and 52 percent actually report actually feeling “happy” about going back to work.
Another 42 percent say they’re “excited” about it.
Whatever your reason for seeking work post-retirement, getting back into the swing of things as a professional can be challenging.
Especially if you’ve been retired for quite some time or are considering a new industry from what you once knew.
4 Tips for Returning to Work After Retirement
Despite age discrimination that unfortunately plagues some of the workforces, just because you’ve retired doesn’t mean that you’re “too old” to return to work.
Here’s some advice for getting back into the working world after retiring from it.
Decide how much you want to work.
Some retirees set out to work full-time jobs again. Others choose to pick up some part-time work for some extra money or because they want something to fill some time. In the aforementioned Joblist survey, 79 percent of retirees were looking for part-time jobs, and just six percent were seeking full-time work. Meanwhile, 16 percent were open to either.
The right type of post-retirement work for you depends on your financial needs and physical capacity.
Choose how you want to work.
Decide the type of workplace setting you’d like—whether that be an in-person setting like an office or a job site or a remote setting like your home. If you’re traveling a lot in your retirement, a remote job may be better for you. But if you’re not used to working online, an in-person job may be more up your alley.
In the Joblist survey, 41 percent of retirees were looking for in-person work, while nine percent were exclusively seeking remote job opportunities. The other half were open to either kind of opportunity.
Consider the cost of going back to work.
While working, in and of itself, will bring you paychecks, going back to work may mean pressing a pause on other programs that may have been offering you financial support.
For example, depending on your age, your social security benefits could be suspended if you decide to return to work. Similarly, going back to work could affect your eligibility for some government-funded programs like Medicaid.
Do your research to see how your eligibility for aid could be impacted by getting a job, depending on your age and the income you’d be earning. And then do the math to see whether or not taking home more paychecks will actually outweigh losing that financial support.
Consider what really fulfills you.
A self-evaluation can help you better determine how it is that you really want to spend your time if you have the choice. If you’re part of the large majority going back to work because you just genuinely want to, go back to work to do something that fulfills you. Maybe that’s a job that gives back to your community in some way. Or maybe you decide to pursue a passion project that you’ve put off for too many years.
Whatever the case, make sure that the jobs you hunt—and the job you land—will bring you more joy than headaches. Because that’s the whole point of returning to work if it’s not for financial reasons.
Getting another job after saying goodbye to the workforce can leave you with a wealth of mixed emotions. Whether you’re stressed about getting back into it, frustrated that you feel like you financially have to do it, or excited to spend your time busy-ing your brain again, returning to work after retiring is an adjustment.
Lean on Ivy Exec for all the resources you need, including the best jobs for people who want to work past retirement age and how to stay motivated in your job search.
