For a Good Retirement, Find Work. Good Luck.

The emphatic conclusion of recent research into retirement policy and labor markets is that working another two or three years would have a surprisingly powerful impact on the retirement living standards of millions of boomers and on the economy. The economic gains, according to a report published this month by the McKinsey Global Institute, a research group, would include increased household savings, higher tax collections and a reduction of the fiscal strain on Social Security and Medicare; together, that would add an estimated $13 trillion to the economy by 2025, or about a year’s total output of goods and services today. The biggest obstacle, experts say, is that most companies are reluctant to retain or hire older workers. At the top of the corporate ladder, executive recruiters are routinely told not to seek anyone over 50, notes Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. In one survey, one-fourth of companies said they were not inclined to hire older workers. In a research experiment a few years ago, thousands of made-up resumes were sent to employers; younger workers who had the same qualifications as older workers were more than 40 percent more likely to be called in for an interview than someone 50 or older. In an industry survey, a majority of technology companies candidly said they would not hire anyone over 40. Today, the conventional wisdom holds that market forces will soon stimulate demand for older workers. Business executives and consultants talk of a coming shortage of skilled employees as boomers begin to retire in droves. This year the oldest boomers, born in 1946, reach the early retirement age of 62, when they become eligible to receive Social Security benefits. But the demand, some say, may not surface as expected. It is true that the boomer generation is huge, but the domestic work force will continue to grow without them. Then, there is the impact of labor-saving technological advances and the increasing ability of corporations to tap skilled workers anywhere in the world. “The demographics don’t necessarily support the view that there will be a labor or skills shortage,” said Laurence Kotlikoff, an economist at Boston University. - New York Times