Labour Shortage Retirees Return

There’s a labour shortage. Employers say they have jobs, but no takers. Some industries rely on new immigrants who are game to have any gig, while they hunt for jobs that fit their education and experience. Others recruit students, but they are part time.

Retired workers are also a possibility because there’s a myth that all workers cannot wait to retire so that they can spend time with their families. The reality is that there are no families because it’s empty nest. Kids are grown up and live all over the globe.

Therefore, retirees have time on their hands, which is a bad idea because lack of self esteem, goes down the graph again. For some of them, depression started at work.

The untold story is that some older workers are pushed out of the workplace. Younger colleagues have all kinds of tricks to make them feel unwanted. The most frequent one is: When are you going to retire?

In One Fine Christmas, an OWN movie, an older worker was laid off before retirement. One of the firm’s biggest client inquired about him. The young cocky manager gave the client the impression that the worker left on his own accord. The client found out the truth and removed his  account.

Not all older workers are frail and cannot work anymore. There are some in excellent health and want to be active, to have a reason to wake up in the morning. Some employers recognize that. Retired workers are also valuable because they don’t have options.

Young people have many, the internet for example. Some regard it as the road to riches, and would rather explore that full time and not work at a minimum wage job. Retired workers do not work to get rich. They work to stay alive, because there’s no family to retire to.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.