The current economy and its effects on would be retirees staying in the job market

I was asked about the following on Linkedin, "The current economy and its effects on would be retirees staying in the job market" and my response is below,

The points raised are interesting, though it may be worth expanding the debate to consider the generations in the workplace and their work preferences and styles, ie, Traditionalist ~ Born pre-1945, Baby Boomers ~ Born 1946-1964, Generation X ~ Born 1965-1980 and Generation Y (Millenials) ~ Born 1980 - 2000.

Also organisational styles, or the management styles inherent within organisations Riding the Waves of Culture, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1993, 1997) pp. 157-181 who postulate that there are different corporate cultures that are shaped by the cultural preferences of their leaders and employees.

These preferences can be described as four types,

(i) The Family ~ Person - orientated culture.
(ii) The Eiffel Tower ~ Role - orientated culture.
(iii) The Guided Missile ~ Project - orientated culture.
(iv) The Incubator ~ Fulfilment - orientated culture.

Other areas to be considered are the evolutionary stages within the individuals life, the Wholeness Years (56-63), Lifeshift, Ferguson, 1999 pp. 190-222 and the Self-full Years 63+ pp. 223-226.

Plus the work of many other authors including The Seasons of a Mans Life, Levinson, 1978.

The latest work on the brains ageing process, (the degradation of the myelin sheaths), the speed of new learning, acquiring new skills and responding to stimuli is interesting, as is the still classic work of Jung on individuation and Jolande Jacobi, a Jungian analyst, has a paragraph in her book entitled The Way of Individuation, which may have some relevance here also.

She writes, "Like a seed growing into a tree, life unfolds stage by stage. Triumphant ascent, collapse, crises, failures, and new beginnings strew the way. It is the path trodden by the great majority of mankind, as a rule unreflectingly, unconsciously, unsuspectingly, following its labyrinthine windings from birth to death in hope and longing. It is hedged about with struggle and suffering, joy and sorrow, guilt and error, and nowhere is there security from catastrophe. For as soon as a man tries to escape every risk and prefers to experience life only in his head, in the form of ideas and fantasies, as soon as he surrenders to opinions of ‘how it ought to be’ and, in order not to make a false step, imitates others whenever possible, he forfeits the chance of his own independent development. Only if he treads the path bravely and flings himself into life, fearing no struggle and no exertion and fighting shy of no experience, will he mature his personality more fully than the man who is ever trying to keep to the safe side of the road."

I could move to onto emotional intelligence, preferred learning styles and personality types using the MBTI and Enneagram as beacons on the road less travelled by those over 60.

However, as the changes in those who are 60 plus can be so profound, i.e. moving away from the classic egoist approach to what is a post career consolidated wisdom centred focus on life, this may be really alien to the younger interviewer who mistakes the slowness of response for disinterest or inability rather than a deep reflection on the myriad of experiences that can be brought to the answer. This answer and subsequent ones from someone of this age group will be of immense benefit to the company, if the Generation X interviewers have the depth of understanding (wit) to appreciate it.