Is ‘unretirement’ the answer to your hiring woes? 5 strategies to make it work

Fear not, human resource professionals. The answer to some of your hiring woes may be a reversal trend — that is “unretirement.”

More and more retirees are reconsidering their decision to leave the workforce — a decision that was accelerated by pandemic lockdowns and return to work orders.

Nearly half of the 4.2 million people who left the workforce at the the start of the pandemic had retired, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Now, Indeed finds unretirement levels are rising to almost above pre-pandemic levels. Further proof: In the past year, Google searches for the word “unretirement” jumped about 80%, according to research from Remote.

Why unretirement?

Reluctant retirees want to come back to work for many reasons, including a need for:

• healthcare benefits
• supplemental income
• a return to normalcy
• escape from boredom, and
• challenge and validation again.

“The pandemic pushed people to think differently about the role that work plays in their lives, and we’re seeing the impact of that,” says Qualtrics Chief Workplace Psychologist Dr. Benjamin Granger. “While it’s not surprising that growth and development are important and career ambitions change as we age or enter different stages of life, this data suggests that the levers organizations pull to attract and retain both younger and older workers may need to differ.”

So retirees could be one of the answers to your hiring woes. Here are five strategies for recruiting, hiring and retaining those out of unretirement:

Loosen the reins

Remember, employees who retired recently probably didn’t apply for other jobs in many years prior to that. They likely don’t have updated résumés or LinkedIn profiles, aren’t familiar with the newest trends in recruiting, and haven’t been practicing great interviewing techniques. But you aren’t hiring them to be ideal job candidates. You’re hiring them to be great employees — and that’s likely something they’ve already accomplished for many years.

So, you might want to drop some of your most basic requirements to find and hire retirees — such as submitting résumés or doing pre-hire online assessments. Perhaps they can fill out written job applications with a brief listing of their last two jobs. Of course, you’ll still want to maintain any safety or background checks you’d normally do.

Look differently

Many retirees aren’t actually looking for a job – although, they wouldn’t be opposed to it. Some don’t know how to look. That’s why many HR pros and recruiters are changing where they look for potential hires.

For instance, there are websites dedicated specifically to hiring workers who have left the workforce or are ready to partially retire. RetirementJobs.com and Workforce50.com are two of them.

Also, you might consider advertising jobs at senior community centers and residences, churches, gyms and other places you see retirees “hanging out” these days. When you post the jobs, be specific with where the job is located, the hours, level of flexibility and range of pay. Retired workers often want to know exactly what they’re getting into before they’d even consider getting back into it.

Recruit deeper from within

Pull up your list of former employees who retired within the last five years. (Most people who are retired longer than that aren’t likely interested in coming back to work. They’ve figured out how they want to navigate retirement!)

Reach out with open positions — and not just those in the area the employee used to work. Retirees are often open to trying new roles because their interests have changed or they might have even been burned out of their previous kind of work.

Another avenue: Let current employees know you’re interested in hiring people from the unretirement community. They may have family members or friends in that capacity.

Bend the model

Most retirees don’t want a full unretirement. So you might redesign roles and/or projects to find an ideal fit for them and your organization.

For instance, offer a senior micro-internship program — short-term projects that help full-time employees accomplish bigger projects or major goals. Or you might pull back-office duties from full-time employees and hire retirees to handle those housekeeping-kind of activities on a schedule that works for them.

Build and maintain engagement

Some retirees come back to work because they have to — whether for income or benefits. Some go into unretirement because they miss the challenges, camaraderie and achievement at work.

Either way, most still want and need to be engaged in the workplace. Like other employees, they’ll be more productive and vested in your workplace if they feel part of it.

Make sure they’re aware of your formal engagement initiatives and help them participate, assuming they’re interested. For more informal group activities — from happy hours to book clubs — try to include them and those who are important to them, such as spouses, children and grandchildren.