Times They Are A-Changin’: Baby boomers, part two of three

Steve St. Lucia has no plans to retire at 65.

‘Most people that I know, with the economic hit, have all delayed their retirement,’ said St. Lucia, who graduated from Syracuse University in 1978 and is the current president and owner of Union Orthotics and Pedorthics. ‘I have little kids so I cannot see myself retiring any time soon, and I really don’t want to.’

The first wave of baby boomers are turning 65 starting this year, and if the estimated 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 retire at the normal age, an ample number of jobs may open up for future graduating classes. Starting Jan. 1, 10,000 baby boomers began turning 65 each day for the next 19 years, according to The Pew Research Center.

But not all baby boomers want to retire at age 65. Out of more than 500 polled U.S. workers age 60 and over, 65 percent of workers said they are putting off retirement, according to a CareerBuilder survey released Jan. 26.

Angela Petrucco, director of the Career Center at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said it will be at least five years before a large segment of baby boomers stop working. She also said she believes longer life expectancy plays a part in later retirement.

‘With the life span now projected to 80 years of age for women and 76 years of age for men, people need more money in order to retire comfortably at 65 years of age,’ Petrucco said.

Thirty-nine percent of baby boomers also don’t want to retire because they enjoy their job, and 26 percent ‘fear retirement may just be boring,’ according to the CareerBuilder survey. Though baby boomers are in no hurry to retire, there is still hope for job market openings because of the size of their generation.

While past recent graduation classes have run into trouble, Petrucco said SU has seen an ‘upswing in career opportunities’ this year. As for the mass exodus of the baby boomer generation creating jobs, Petrucco said she believes the media has overstated this idea.

Positions can open up as boomers retire, and upcoming graduates could be a great fit, said Allison Nawoj, the corporate communications manager for CareerBuilder.

‘The entry-level person might even have a way to put a new spin on it, a way to improve the position or a way to change it,’ Nawoj said. ‘That is a possibility for sure.’

Nawoj said one of the reasons graduates will be able to fill vacant positions is due to the different strengths they bring as a generation. Whereas baby boomers have demonstrated resilience after enduring a recession and longevity in a particular industry, newer generations may be better multitaskers and more familiar with new technologies.

There is a benefit to having a technology background, especially when it comes to the marketing side of any business, said baby boomer St. Lucia. He said he would love to work in a field that is more focused on technology, but he doesn’t have the skills of the younger generation.

‘I don’t have the IT background,’ he said. ‘They’re hiring people right out of college, so I can’t compete with the newer guys.’

Sam Meyerkopf, a senior sport management major, agrees technology separates the baby boomer generation from upcoming graduates because students are familiar with the constant technological changes in the workforce.

‘A baby boomer may run things different than a young person would, so if they are retiring soon, we can start taking over with new technological skills,’ Meyerkopf said.

But the jobs are not opening up for everyone. Kate Law graduated in 2009 and spent her senior year at SU hearing from 2008 graduates who were still unemployed.

‘Every day we’d hear stories about how horrible the job market was and how horrible the economy was,’ she said.

Upon graduating in May 2009, Law immediately moved to New York City to try to find a job in the magazine industry but spent her time waiting tables and doing unpaid internships. It wasn’t until early summer 2010 that she received her first full-time job with benefits at InStyle magazine.

Pete Goodman, also a 2009 SU graduate, received a low-paying public relations job after graduation and supplemented his salary by waiting tables. He said he was lucky to eventually be offered a property management job by a close family member who works for a real estate development company. Still, he never expected to go from communications to construction.

‘I hope to get back to my original career path eventually, but for now I’ve been waiting out the storm,’ Goodman said. ‘I hate to sound like I’m complaining because I know so many from my class still working at Wegmans or begging for shifts at Chili’s while trying to get their careers up and running.

Caitlin Blanz, a senior finance and marketing major, is also skeptical about the idea of baby boomers’ retirement opening up jobs.

‘I don’t think baby boomers leaving the job industry is going to affect us all that much because it’s still a competitive search out there,’ Blanz said. ‘They’re not going to hand you jobs on a platter.’

mequalte@syr.edu

Published on January 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm