Getty getty The UK has a problem. Bloomberg called it a crisis of low participation in the workforce. It’s the worst in over 20 years and author Tom Rees described it this way: According to a new Resolution Foundation report on the UK’s post-pandemic labor force participation, “An exodus of rich professionals from jobs is driving Britain’s crisis of low participation in the labor market, according to new research that lays bare the challenge of plugging widespread worker shortages.” “The Resolution Foundation found that a jump in people taking early retirement disproportionately comes from highly-paid workers over age 50, making it more difficult to persuade the group to return to work.” According to the data, 60% of the older professionals who retired own their home outright, which they posit has reduced retiree interest in taking up a job. The report mentioned, “Labor market returns by older workers are rare and get rarer as time since exit passes,” the report said. “These facts suggest that returns to the labor market by the ‘Covid cohort’ of early retirees will be relatively rare and, most importantly, insensitive to policy changes.” These are professionals that, according to the Resolution Foundation, the UK economy can’t afford to lose for two important reasons. They are highly skilled, and are highly paid for their expertise. But wait. Isn’t there a more optimistic approach to considering these data? Why hasn’t the report considered the potential for these recently retired professionals to remain in the work force part-time, participating in a part- or full-time post-retirement side-gig. There are, in fact, a wide variety of ways that retired professionals can continue to contribute and earn an attractive addition to their retirement funds, as a part-time consultant, interim manager, educator, influencer, and the list goes on. Age isn’t a serious barrier to many forms of freelancing. The Global Survey on Freelancing found that 20% of the freelancers participating in their survey were over 50 years of age. These individuals generally reported satisfaction with their freelance work, and the additional income it provided. The American Enterprise Institute recently published the results of their June American Perspectives Survey . They found that 20 percent of retired Americans were not fully retired. Instead, they are opting to extend their careers through gig economy jobs. As the report pointed out: “Continuing to work after official retirement is not new, of course. Retired workers have long engaged in bridge jobs , such as part-time consulting, before departing completely from the workforce. Gig work, however, is different. Platforms like FlexJobs and Thumbtack are actively marketing themselves to older retirees, offering flexible work as tutors, rental hosts, pet-sitters, and rideshare drivers — a reflection of how internet-based gig work is helping to fill labor market shortages in the American economy.” A study of part-time freelancers found that independent professionals tend to take side-gigs when they are available, rather than when they have financial needs. They do so to take advantage of the extra income, as well as […]
