Retirement Takes On A New Meaning

Increasing life expectancies, a rapidly growing number of older Canadians and a demographic gap following the baby boomers are causing old notions about retirement to go out the window.

Recruiters say there really is no retirement age any more and aging workers are redefining the terms of work. Creative work arrangements are exploding as companies and employees push for a much more diverse and loose definition about what retirement means.

"Organizations are trying to keep people until the very end," says Marc Lattoni, an executive recruiter with Edward W. Kelley and Partners Inc. in Calgary. "At the same time, there are a lot of very wealthy employees in Calgary who really don't need to work ... so how do you keep a millionaire at work?"

Many white-collar professionals have cashed in on Alberta's boom and are in a position to leave by their mid- to late 50s. But after retiring early, many find themselves bored and want to continue working. They often embark on entirely new careers at age 60 or seek alternative work arrangements with employers.

"They work because it's interesting, not because they need the dough," Mr. Lattoni says.

Ian Bourne, for example, is a 59-year-old retired chief financial officer of Transalta Corp. After finishing his career there, he's now embarking on the second phase of his career because "it's not my interest in hanging it up at 58 or 59.

"People who have been committed to their careers for 40 years are not the kind of people who are going to stop on a dime and just do all leisure things," Mr. Bourne says.

He is now getting into corporate and non-profit board work. "For me, staying active in the business community is important," Mr. Bourne says. "I would like to have a little more flexibility in my schedule and a little more control over my life."

It's music to the ears of human resource managers scrambling to keep employees in almost any capacity as the exodus of baby boomers begins. By 2011, that generation will begin turning 65, but many are already leaving or have left.

The catch is they're not all leaving in the traditional sense. Many will stay on with companies in mentoring roles or other arrangements, says John McKay, a partner at EWK Partners.

"After they've travelled the world and got their strength back, they're coming back, but they're looking for something a little bit different," Mr. McKay says.

For those who have invested wisely and are in a good financial position, they are in a perfect position to take advantage of the gap in senior leadership by way of consulting contracts or part-time work arrangements.

A relatively new trend has been the establishment of three-year exit strategies whereby senior employees exit slowly by a set date, allowing companies to plan the transition and transfer of knowledge by removing uncertainties.

In a typical scenario, employees would work 80 per cent of their regular schedule the first year, 50 per cent in the second year and 40 per cent the third year -- all while earning their full salary, Mr. Lattoni says.