'Unretirement' is becoming a hot new trend in the sizzling U.S. labor market

[mahatmakanejeeves]

ECONOMY

‘Unretirement’ is becoming a hot new trend in the sizzling U.S. labor market

PUBLISHED THU, MAY 5 2022 3:43 PM EDT | UPDATED THU, MAY 5 2022 4:32 PM EDT

Jeff Cox
@JEFF.COX.7528
@JEFFCOXCNBCCOM

KEY POINTS
• The level of workers who retired then came back a year later is running around 3.2%, just about where it was before the pandemic.
• A thriving jobs market in which workers virtually have their pick on where to go, coupled with soaring inflation and the fading of Covid fears all are contributing to the trend.

The Covid pandemic sent more than 8 million workers to the sidelines at one point, including many folks who decided it was the right time to retire as the workplace as they knew it faded out of sight.

But with a thriving jobs market in which workers virtually have their pick on where to go, coupled with soaring inflation and the fading of Covid fears, some are finding it a good time to rethink their plans and come back to the fold.

In fact, the level of workers who retired then came back a year later is running around 3.2%, just about where it was before the pandemic, after dipping to around 2% during Covid’s worst days, according to calculations from job placement site Indeed.

“The unretirement trend is emblematic of what we’re seeing in the labor market overall, which is seeing increasing labor force participation for a broad swath of workers,” said Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at Indeed.

{snip}

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. I have been giving bigger tips to those who do work.

Be they Lyft drivers, wait staffers at eateries, my hair stylist of 27 years who has to drive over 30 miles to her job, etc. They appreciate the extra money as they need it.

[Irish_Dem]

2. I have been doing the same thing.

My hair stylist who always wears a mask at work, and she let me know she had been vaxed and boosted.

Restaurant staff who work around my food allergy so I can actually get something to eat when I order food.

Grocery delivery folks who bring me groceries during ice and snowy weather when I cannot get out due to osteoporosis (fall risk.)

These folks have provided a valuable service to me and I want to let them know I appreciate them.

Since the pandemic started, I have not been spending much money, so the increased tips fit in my budget.

[doc03]

3. I know a couple people that retired in the last year that went back to work. They

say they couldn't make it with inflation being so high. It's not because they missed working.

[YoniCat]

4. the great over 50 layoff

Baloney. So the same number of older workers they had before were able to return to work. Basically, that means age discrimination is now still at the same level it was before. Most of my friends are my age 60+ and most of us got laid off due to the pandemic and none of us got hired again.

Age discrimination is real and I never saw one single article about how companies were thrilled to get rid of us and how they still refuse to hire us now. If anything has changed then the numbers of older workers returning to work should be way HIGHER than it was before. Same old same old.

[Backseat Driver]

10. I agree!

My DH has returned to FT work but it will never again be in his former occupation. His current employer is sooooo thankful he actually shows up for his 40 hours, has flexible availability, and that he doesn't need those "benefits" like vacation, privatized group medical, dental, vision, or before tax savings plans, etc...that they recently gave him a $0.05 hourly raise, LOL. Actually, I'm amazed that he wasn't sacked after he needed to recuperate this past winter after he slipped on winter ice and broke his shoulder. His hourly rate works out at about an annual amount that is about 5x less than what he made at his previous career occupationally sedentary cube job, one he could have also equally done from home during the pandemic, but nooooo! He hasn't had one of those since about Y2K, but then we are no longer homeowners (thank you Countrywide) are past a bankruptcy that still won't wipe out school loans, and still have no other debt but no savings either. Our kids would like us to get our "ducks in a row" ASAP, but we can't afford to even fix my 2002 vehicle or hire an attorney for all those end-of-life pre-planning "ducks in a row." If there wasn't age discrimination, we'd still have a home, a bit more SS and retirement savings, and been able to maintain healthcare insurance and/or gap policies over those really lean decades - yeah, I said decades. BTW, never marry an only child of any race, who has no one else to spread the costs of caring for a surviving parent!

[CousinIT]

5. Seniors being FORCED to have to return to work to survive is a "Hot new trend"?

Wow. That's some marketing bullshit right there.

[jmbar2]

6. I've been trying to unretire to deal with rising cost of living.

Been turned down more times than an army cot. Not buying this story at all.

The silver lining, sort of, is that they are estimating an 8.6% increase in in SS for 2023. But it won't be enough.

[RainCaster]

7. As a senior all I can find are "gig economy" jobs

Shit pay and truly mediocre benefits. For half pay. This is wrong.

[progree]

8. Its understandable - since the start of the year, the stock market is down over 20%

when adjusting for purchasing power (using the S&P 500 index and CPI thru April),

and the purchasing power of the FIXED DOLLAR annuity that is half my regular income is being obliterated, down 8.3% in purchasing power in the last 12 months, according to the CPI (and only deflation would cause it to recover some of that loss, as opposed to being eroded further).

For example if inflation were to continue at say a 7% rate, my annuity would be half eroded in 10 years and 3/4 eroded in 20 years, leaving it with just 1/4 of its current purchasing power. Long-term bonds have much the same problem.

And there have been a lot of warnings that stocks are at historically sky-high values, but people have been blowing it off as well, that's the new normal, don't worry your pretty little head off about such matters..

Anyway, a lot of people who might have been comfortable about their retirement finances at the start of the year are looking at a far more questionable picture now.

[progree]

9. CBS News poll today: Americans feel uneasy as economic concerns grow,

CBS News poll: Americans feel uneasy as economic concerns grow, CBS, 5/22/22

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/cbs-news-poll-americans-feel-uneasy-as-economic-concerns-grow/ar-AAXAbtp?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=1a5db578404346c6a9095a790d167927

% saying economy is bad: November: 64%, Jan: 64%, Mar: 63%,, April: 63%, May: 69%

(so it was flat from November thru April, and then suddenly a 6 percentage point increase. The May numbers are from this poll conducted May 18-20, 2022).

... Most are also pessimistic about their plans for retirement, and on the heels of a stock market downturn, two-thirds of those who have money invested in the market are pessimistic about it.

[peppertree]

11. The Big Business inflation gambit is paying off

A variation on Nixon's "make the economy scream" in order to effect regime change.

God help us.