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DISSERTATION THE EXPERIENCES OF RETIREES AND THEIR DECISION TO RETURN TO THE WORKFORCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS Submitted by: Donald L. Venneberg School of Education In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Summer 2005 COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY April 28, 2005 WE HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE DISSERTATION PREPARED UNDER OUR SUPERVISON BY DONALD L. VENNEBERG ENTITLED THE EXPERIENCES OF RETIREES AND THEIR DECISION TO RETURN TO THE WORKFORCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING IN PART REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Committee on Graduate Work James H. Shulman Adviser Jerry W.

Gilley Department Head/Director ii ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION THE EXPERIENCES OF RETIREES AND THEIR DECISION TO RETURN TO THE WORKFORCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS The purpose of this study was to discover and describe the meaning retirees ascribe to the experience of retiring and then returning to paid work. The study followed a qualitative research design of interpretive phenomenological analysis. Twelve retirees (seven men and five women) who had returned to paid work were interviewed for the study. Two sets of themes emerged from this study.

The first set of major themes provided the context of the findings of the study; reasons for retiring, reasons for returning to work, barriers or challenges to returning to work and why they chose to work for the particular organization or do the particular type of work in their post- retirement employment. The set of constituent themes within the context themes provided the basis of the essence of how the participants experienced the phenomenon of retiring and returning to work. Some of the findings of this study were consistent with those of prior research on older workers, prospective retirees and the limited research that has been conducted on retirees who have returned to work. These findings were in the areas of planning for iii retirement, reasons to retire, reasons to return to work, barriers or challenges to return to work and the choice of post-retirement work.

Some of the findings of this study diverged from those from prior research. These findings were in the areas of gender differences among retirees who return to work, organizational acceptance of retirees’ ability to contribute, the importance of additional post-retirement income, the need to adjust to a new role or status and/or build a new reputation, the opportunity to mentor or help others, and the importance of having no supervisory responsibilities or promotion pressure in a post-retirement job. The findings of this study suggest that additional research needs to be conducted on post-retirement gender differences in the barriers to returning to work, reasons to choose a particular type of work, importance of social interaction in the workplace, value conflict in intergenerational workforces, and former supervisors and managers who no longer wish to supervise or manage in post-retirement employment. Venneberg School of Education Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 Summer 2005 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been fortunate to have such a supportive network of family, friends and colleagues who helped me through the process and challenges of my doctoral studies.

I am especially grateful for the love and support of my wife, Gail Austin who encouraged me to pursue a doctoral degree and has provided me continuous support and made many sacrifices of her time and energy as I moved through my doctoral program. I also wish to thank my colleagues in the School of Education and the Organizational Performance and Change doctoral program who were always ready to provide assistance to me when needed. I would like to particularly thank my close friend and colleague Vida Wilkinson who shared this journey with me and who always willingly provided me her support, advice and encouragement. Finally, I wish to thank my graduate committee members who supported and guided my pursuit of my doctoral program and this study.

My advisor Jerry Gilley rowed with me without trying to steer, Jim Banning encouraged and helped me through the qualitative research process, Carole Makela provided continual advice and guidance on my proposal and my writing and a constant flow of articles and information on older workers and retirees, and Steve Shulman provided just the right balance of devils advocacy and support to help me maintain focus on the issues of the study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE. ii ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION. v TABLE OF CONTENTS.

vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. 1 Background and Context. 2 Population and Workforce in the United States in the early Twenty-First Century. 2 A Potential Future Workforce Shortage.

4 Limited Action on Retaining and Rehiring Older Workers. 7 The Continued Viability of the Social Security and Medicare Systems. 9 The Shifting Nature of Retirement. 9 The Need for the Study.

16 Significance of the Study. 18 Statement of the Researcher’s Perspective. 18 Definition of Terms. 19 vi CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW.

20 Factors that may Influence the Decision of Older Workers to Retire. 20 Background and Context. 26 Lack of Continued Investment in the Human Capital of Older Workers. 33 Public Policy Factors.

42 Factors that may Influence the Decision of Older Workers to Continue Working. 44 Organizational Workplace Factors. 45 Organizational and Public Policy Factors. 46 Factors that may Influence the Decision of Retirees to Return to Work.

52 Need for Income. 52 The Intrinsic Value of Work. 53 Policies and Practices for Retaining and Recruiting Older Workers. 54 Gender Differences in the Retirement or Return-to-Work Decision.

58 Current Research on Older Persons, Older Workers and Retirement. 58 Limitations of Current Research on Decision to Return to Work from Retirement. 59 Need for Further Research. 62 Research Approach and Rationale.

62 Rationale for the Choice of Research Method. 67 vii Measures and Data Collection. 68 Location/Setting for the Research. 69 Procedures Followed in the Study.

71 Standards of Quality and Verification (Trustworthiness). 77 Background of the Context of the Phenomenon. 77 Demographics of Participants. 78 Analysis of the Phenomenon as Experienced by the Participants.

80 Emergent Themes and Essences. 111 Analysis of the Essence of the Phenomenon. 113 Reasons for Retiring. 113 Reasons for Returning to Work.

118 Barriers or Challenges to Returning to Work. 126 Reasons to Work for This Organization or Do This Work. 132 Summary of Findings. 142 Reasons for Retiring.

144 Reasons for Returning to Work. 145 Barriers to Returning to Work. 145 Reasons to work for This Organization or do This Type of Work. 147 The Essence of Retiring and Returning to Work.

149 viii CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 150 Some Findings were Consistent with Prior Research. 150 Some Findings Diverged from Prior Research. 161 Implications for Organizations.

167 Non-Monetary Factors as the Primary Attraction to Return to Work for Retirees 167 Use Employees within Your Company as Recruiters of Retirees. 168 Plan to Train Retirees who need Skill Refreshment or New Skills for the Job. 169 Retirees who formerly Supervised and Managed may No Longer wish to do so. 169 Understand Gender Differences in Needs for Post-Retirement Employment.

170 Recommendations for Further Research. 171 Gender Differences in Post-Retirement Employment Needs. 171 The Move from Leader to Follower. 172 Challenges of the Intergenerational Workplace.

172 The Importance of Social Interaction in the Workplace. 173 Work-Family Balance Issues for Retiree Employees. 175 APPENDIX A: DEFINITION OF TERMS. 187 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.

191 APPENDIX C: CONTACT LETTER AND INFORMED CONSENT FORM. 193 APPENDIX D: DATA ANALYSIS TABLES. 198 Appendix D-1 Context Theme Clusters and Constituent Themes by Participant. 198 Appendix D-2 Master Context Themes Constituent Themes.

210 ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION One hundred and four years old Ray Crist stood up yesterday morning before a crowd of applauding college students and waved, the big hand of the one-time farm boy slicing the air with gusto. It was farewell. Crist was retiring from Messiah College as probably the oldest working professor in the nation. He joined Messiah College at the age of 70, after a career in science (Turner, 2004).

Ray Christ is an obvious exception to the current norm of the worker in the United States in terms of returning to work at an age when many people are retired, and continuing working well beyond that age. However, while 104 year old workers may not be commonplace in the next few decades, the population and the workforce of the United States and several other developed countries are continuing to age. Also, in the United States there is a “trough” in the general population and the workforce. The large cohort of Baby Boomers makes up the bulk of the current workforce.

The Boomers are followed by a much smaller generational cohort, Generation X, born in the years 1965 to 1979. In many other developed countries, births are dropping below replacement rates resulting in fewer younger workers to replace those who are older (Herman, Olivo & Gioia, 2003) and exiting the workforce. In addition, the trend in the United States toward increasingly earlier retirement by men, which began in the early 1970s, has leveled off and may be reversing (Toossi, 2004). In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, Dychtwald, Erickson and Morison (2004) noted the impact of this change in the proportion of older workers in the workforce: 1 The proportion of workers over 55 declined from 18% in the 1970s to under 11% in 2000 – but it’s projected to rebound to 20% by 2015.

… Just when we’ve gotten accustomed to having relatively few mature workers around, we have to start learning how to attract and retain far more of them (49). These changes in the age of the workforce and the possible lack of necessary younger workers may cause the government and organizations in the United States to reconsider their policies which affect retaining older workers and rehiring those who have retired from the workforce. It is hoped that the results of this study will help inform organizational leaders and human resource professionals concerning what considerations go into the decision by retirees to return to the workforce. Background and Context Population and Workforce in the United States in the early Twenty-First Century The Aging of the Population and Workforce The median age of all Americans increased from 32.3 for the decade 1990 to 2000.

The fastest growing 5-year age group was those aged 50-54, which grew by 55 percent from 1990 to 2000. In 2000, the Baby Boom generational cohort was aged 36 to 54 and was 28 percent of the U. Workers from the Baby Boom cohort currently make up approximately 60 percent of the prime age workforce (ages 25-54) in the United States (Kaihla, 2003). The Intergenerational Workforce By the year 2010, the largest portion of the U.

workforce will consist of members of three generational cohorts; the Baby Boomers (76 million persons born in the years 1946 through 1964), Generation X (51 million persons born in the years 1965 through 1979) and Generation Y (74 million persons born in the years 1980 through 1999). In addition, there will likely still be a few workforce members from the 2 generation born just before and during World War II (Zempke, Raines & Filipczek, 2000). The mix of the overall U. workforce in 2010 will be concentrated in young workers (18 - 25) and older workers (55 and above) (Lerman & Schmidt 2002), with a much smaller 26-54 age group in the middle who are members of the Generation X cohort or the younger Boomers.

Growth has occurred in each of these cohorts since their births, as a result of the net of deaths and immigration.