LATE-CAREER REEMPLOYMENT TRANSITIONS: HOW UNEMPLOYEDOLDER KNOWLEDGE WORKERS REJOIN THE LABOR FORCE

Michigan Works! October 2014 Annual Conference Workshop Notes

A Study of Michigan Research on Late-Career Reemployment

Susan Fleming and Dr. John Fruner

October 14, 2014

Introductory comments

I’d like to acknowledge the generous support of Michigan Works! and its staff members in making this study possible and contributing to its success. The doctoral degree program at Baker College in which this research was conducted wasfunded by a TAA training grant administered by Michigan Works! In Troy. Michigan Works! staff members in Macomb and Allegan countiesagreed to answer my questions about their workforce development programs and experiences.

On a larger scale, this research is a product of public and private support for Michigan higher education institutions and lifelong learners. As a graduate of Kettering University, Michigan State University, and Baker College,I’m a believer in the power of collaboration among academics, workforce developmentprofessionals, and employers to enable highly skilled individuals andfoster rewarding employment opportunities in exemplary, innovative organizations.

Participant confidentiality

All participants in this research were guaranteed confidentiality and protection of their personal information as part of the approved research proposal. All personal information is considered sealed and it would be a violation of the research protocol for me to disclose it in any way or to participate in its disclosure. I will avoid disclosing personal identifying information in any digital materials or records, at the conference or afterward.

The rationale for this study

We all remember the challenges in the labor market that the 2007-2009 recession caused in Michigan. One thing we might be able to do to learn from an event with such enormous workforce consequences is to study the resilient and resourceful jobseekers who somehow found ways to overcome the challenges and find rewarding employment. Much of the existing literature deals with people searching for their first career jobs after college or in the active prime of their careers, so I wanted to look at the experiences of jobseekers in the later stages of their careers. In some ways, the methods that were successful for them might be applicable to jobseekers in other career stages. Methods that worked well in a recessionary labor market should certainly be effective when job opportunities are easier to find.

In this research I focused on the large Baby Boom generation, American citizens born from 1946 through 1964, and on knowledge-work occupations, as opposed to manual labor jobs. Since 2011, estimates indicate that over 10,000 so-called “boomers” began reaching age 65 every month, many of whom have been working in knowledge-based careers. Because the youngest boomers reached age 50 this year, we can expect several more years of large groups of late-career jobseekers entering the workforce development system.

A relatively recent national and state trend is that many of these people are choosing to work longer and are not retiring, or are “unretiring,” leaving only temporarily before seeking new jobs. This phenomenon means that when large numbers of people reach an age at which they might have retired in 2000, they are instead looking for reemployment opportunities in 2014. Whether or not they are aware of it, these individuals are dealing with late-career reemployment (LCR) transition. While no specific data are available for the 50-and-over knowledge workforce in Michigan, government statistics indicate that thousands of Michiganders, possibly tens of thousands, are seeking new and better work and are thus currently in some phase of LCR transition.As workforce development professionals, you can expect to encounter significant numbers of these LCR transitioners as your clients.

Some useful definitions for this workshop

We will be discussing some key ideas about the older segment of jobseekers in the workforce. After today’s workshop, you will be able to add some new terms to your vocabulary that might help you and others better understand the issues older jobseekers in knowledge-based occupations face as they try to reenter the workforce.

Late-career: Most published career research focuses on the early and still-developing middle stages of working lives. Late-career, by contrast, is the stage when a person begins to think less of their climb upward on the career ladder, and more about how they will gradually step away from the demands of working life. While they might choose to continue working, people in late-career tend to seek work with less emphasis on power and monetary reward, and more on work they find satisfying while still generating some personal income. It is not meant to be a specific age or number of years of job tenure, although a general description might consider late-career workers to be over age 50 with 25 years or more of experience in the labor force.As we will discuss, this is becoming an important phase because it might be many more years than in the past before such individuals will be ready to become retirees.

Late-career reemployment (LCR): Returning to work in late-career after losing a job or electing to leave the labor force. The significance of this description is that late-career jobseekers are a large and growing population who often feel marginalized in different ways than marginalized jobseekers in the early and middle stages of their working lives, or jobseekers who encounter difficult labor market conditions when seeking reemployment after military service or incarceration.

Late-career employability (LCE): The ability of a late-career individual to be a viable hiring candidate based on a compelling set of job-related skills and other personal strength attributes. Achieving LCE is a precondition for making a successful LCR transition, and so it is a goal worth pursuing for jobseekers or the workforce development professionals who assist them in their job searches. Some employment experts have suggested that achieving and sustaining employability is a more important objective for workers in today’s workplace than acquiring any specific position or role.

Labor market intermediary (LMI): I use this term and its acronym throughout my study, so I present it here to avoid confusion. LMIs are persons or organizations functioning in labormarkets to facilitate employment on behalf of jobseekers and employers, such as Michigan Works!. LMIs effectivelysupport employment by helping jobseekers identify and prepare for suitable employmentopportunities, expediting job search processes, and promoting contact and communication amongemployers and jobseekers. LMI groups operate in the public and private sectors. Largerorganizations are often public-private partnerships.

Study abstract

In this research, I focused on how late-career knowledge workers succeed in contemporary jobsearch and career change transitions following the 2007-2009 American economic recession, asubject and context that have not been adequately addressed in previous research.

Qualitative multiplecase study methodology with an interpretive focus on success cases was applied to explore theexperiences of 10 older knowledge workers in Michigan who returned to the labor force afterlate-career exits from previous employment.

Key findings included descriptions of howparticipants approached their LCR transitions, developed and appliedimportant strengths and behaviors, strategically utilized sources of support as needed, andengaged with employers to succeed in a highly competitive labor market.

The problem addressed in this study

There is inadequate understanding grounded in research regarding how and why some older knowledge workers succeed in making difficult transitions from unemployment to rewarding reemployment, while others who seem equally employable do not.

I first set out to learn what insights, best practices, and discoveries older jobseekers had reported or generated as research participants in other studies of successful reemployment transitions. Then, for data collection, I wanted to learn what lessons

The essential real-world problem addressed in this research is that, of all late-career knowledge workers, those who increasingly choose to reenter the workforce rather than exit into retirement fail to regain the level of employer-perceived employability necessary to reenter the workforce in rewarding new jobs at about the same rate as they succeed (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012b; Sloan Center on Aging and Work, 2012b). Many aspects of this problem have been resistant to understanding and solutions.

Questions to be answered in the study

Four research questions were used to address specific paths or dimensions ofinquiry, as depicted in the late-career employability (LCE) transition model. They deal with the jobseeker, labor market intermediary support, support from employers, and support or influence from other external sources. These questions formed aframework for data collection and analysis.

  1. How do older jobseekers in knowledge occupations develop and apply occupational strength attributes and behaviors in late-career reemployment transitions? Themes for this question included occupational resilience, organizationalcultural fit, lifelong learning orientation, adaptability, optimistic mindset, self-awareness(identity, transition awareness, entitlement attitude), resourcefulness, andpreparation through work history/experience (current marketable expertise, individualcontributor skills including collaboration skills and work capacity in terms of healthand vitality).
  1. How do labor market intermediaries serve older jobseekers effectively? Themesincluded effective individual career coaching practices, effective networking supportand placement services, and effective practices in general workforce development.
  1. How do organizations employing older knowledge workers facilitate successful late-career employment? Themes included effective practices in assessing andselecting older knowledge workers, effective organizational cultural values andpractices supporting older workers, and recognition of positive contribution by olderworkers toward organizational performance.
  1. How do other resources and environmental factors positively influence workforce participation among older jobseekers? Themes included occupationalnetworks, family support, public and private financial support, supporting societaltrends, and supporting occupational trends.

Review of existing research and literature

All good academic research includes a comprehensive review of all the knowledge the researcher can find on topics related to the problem and questions. I consulted hundreds of books, academic research journal articles, government publications, general business and employment media publications, and other collected documents on topics that included the nature of work and employment, career development, organizational behavior, individual resilience, workforce development, labor economics, and retirement, among others. The result is a robust library of reference material that formed a foundation for the way I chose to approach my study.

Methods used in this study

This research was qualitative in nature,consisting of interpreting the experiencesof a small, select group of participants rather than statistical analysis of quantitative data for a larger sample of the population. I chose a multiple case studydesignwith each participant treated as a unique case. The focus was not on individual jobseekers selected at random, but on “success cases” who had achieved reemployment after losing or leaving a career job in some type of knowledge work.

Conceptual models

In research of this kind, conceptual models are diagrams that represent the researcher’s attempt to understand, explain, and possibly predict how and why processes of interest work the way they do. When there is enough evidence to support such models, they can be useful in developing theories that give us good starting points when we encounter problems and begin to think about how to solve them.

We’ll look at four keyconcept models from the study in this workshop:

  1. Sustainable employability
  2. Late-career employabilitytransition
  3. Late-career reemployment (LCR) engagement
  4. LCR transition

These models are useful in explaininghow late-career knowledge workers achieved success in their job searches. The models include 53 specific LCR success factors and the concepts of motivational and functionalcompetitiveness as keys to reemployment.

Conclusions and recommendations were directedtoward new practice and research knowledge regarding occupational strength attributes andbehaviors of late-career knowledge workers inreemployment transitions, sources ofemployment-related support, and employer talent acquisition processes.

How information was collected

Primary participants were interviewed for about 30 minutes to two hours, using a prepared interview guide containing questions of various types about their transition experiences. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Followup questions and responses were emailed. The transcripts and followup responses, my notes, and materials collected during the interview process became the data set for my analysis.

The participants

Recruitment Criteria for Participation

  • Michigan resident
  • Born before 1965
  • Now employed full-time or nearly full-time, not actively seeking new work
  • Reemployed after a period of voluntary or involuntary absence from the workforce
  • Did not lose previous job due to incapacity, lack of performance, or any action leading to

termination for cause

  • Employed in knowledge work (not manual labor)
  • Labor union affiliation played no role in gaining reemployment

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Key recommendations for practice

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Researcher copyright

I choose toshare my copyrighted research with Michigan Works! agency staff without compensation in appreciation for the organization’s role in my professional development, while retaining all rights of authorship. I respectfully request that users of any research information and concepts I share in this conference respect my copyright. Conference workshop attendees may quote my study or share excerpts from it with my permission, provided that the title of the study is cited as the sourceand I am identified as the author.

Recent publication related to this study (additional information)

Journalist Pamela Houghtonrecently interviewed me for a story on the theme of late-career reemployment in Michigan. The story ran on February 9, 2014 in Michigan Prime, a weekend local magazine insert in the Detroit Free Press (go to click on the magnifying glass icon & search on Houghton or go to the cover > contents page > page 7 in the February 9, 2014 issue). It features interviews of four Southeast Michigan residents who returned to the workplace after a job loss, with my comments and Michigan employment data.