Not Quite Ready to Retire1 退休为时尚早
1.Done with the 9 to 52 but not prepared to hang it up3? This work may be for you: the bridge job.
1、在结束了朝九晚五的工作之后，是不是仍然不想完全放弃工作而退休呢?如果是的话，这份工作可能是个不错的选择：返聘工作。
2.Two years ago,Bob Mark way retired. Or so he thought. After joining Shell's exploration and production unit in 1973,Mark way had climbed the ranks to manage its deep water operations in the Gulf of Mexico. He had reached an age and accumulated enough years of service to sail off into the sunset with a good pension. Both kids' college tuitions and one of their weddings were out of the way; his 46-ft. sailboat,the Sazerac,beckoned. But then Hurricane Katrina walloped his house two blocks from Lake Pontchartrain,and his plans for a clean break from his career shifted. "Suddenly,having cash outside of retirement plans began to look like a pretty good idea," says Markway,now 55. Besides,he felt a need to be useful. When Shell offered him interesting work on a project basis,he took it-on the condition it not interfere with sailing season.
2、两年前，Bob Markway退休了;至少他自己认为已经退休了。1973年，他进入壳牌公司勘探和生产部工作，之后他不断得到升职直至最后主管该公司在墨西哥湾的深水作业部门。如今，他已到了退休的年龄，多年来的工作足可以让他享有一笔不错的退休金，从而可以驾驶着帆船徜徉在夕阳的余晖之中。两个孩子上大学的学费，和其中一个孩子的婚礼费用都已不是问题，他那46英尺长的帆船Sazerac正整装待发。然而，后来发生的“卡特里娜”飓风摧毁了他距离Pontchartrain湖两个街区远的房子，他原本想彻底退休的打算也有了新的变化。眼下已经55岁的Markway说道：“突然之间，在退休期间继续赚钱，好像开始成了一个非常不错的想法。”此外，他也觉得有必要让自己成为一个有用的人。当壳牌公司为他提供了一份有意思的项目工作时，他接受了，条件是：工作不会影响他的帆船之旅。
3.What Markway is experiencing is a new kind of American career stage: the not-quite-retirement. As life spans lengthen,pensions tighten and workplace rules change,hopping from full-time
work to full-time leisure is appearing less realistic and,to some,less desirable. The trend has given rise to a new category of employment,the so-called bridge job. Economists use this term to describe part-time or full-time jobs typically held for less than 10 years following full-time careers. According to a 2005 working paper from the Center on Aging and Work at Boston College,one-half to two-thirds of workers take on bridge jobs before fully retiring-one reason the number of workers 65 and up is expected to increase 117% by 2025. "Why go from 100 m.p.h. to zero?" says Joseph Quinn,a Boston College economist and co-author of the paper. "You wouldn't do that in your car. You'd do 70,then 50,then 20."
3、Markway现在所经历的是美国一种新型的职业阶段--非完全退休。随着人类寿命的不断延长，退休金额的日渐紧缩，以及工作要求的最新变化，放弃全职工作、置身终日消遣的可能性似乎越来越不现实;对于某些人而言，这也是情非所愿的。这种趋势带来了一种新的就业形式，也就是所谓的“返聘工作(the bridge job)”。经济学家用这个术语来描述那些兼职或是全职工作，这些工作一般是在退休后时间少于10年的再工作。根据波士顿大学老年人及其就业研究中心2005年的研究报告，有二分之一到三分之二的员工在完全退休之前从事返聘工作，这也是年龄在65岁或65岁以上的员工人数到2025年预计将增长117%的原因之一。Joseph Quinn是波士顿大学的经济学家，也是2005年研究报告团的合著者，他说道：“为什么要把时速从100英里突然降至零呢?你在开车时恐怕也不会这么做。你会把时速从100英里降至70英里，再降至50英里，再降至20英里。”
4.The prolonged-work ethic comes at a time when American companies face a demographics-driven crisis4: What happens when the 76 million baby boomers retire? As older workers begin to leave work in droves,economists project a labor shortage of 10 million by the end of the decade. Some industries,such as utilities,education and energy,are already struggling to stanch the institutional brain drain. So,older workers want to keep working,and employers need them-crisis solved. Right? Not quite,says Deborah Russell,director of workforce issues at the AARP5. Revamping retirement systems requires shifts in attitudes and bureaucratic pension rules. "It comes down to the perception that if you're 58,how much do I want to invest in you?" she says. "This is a critical issue for employers to overcome-for their own good."
4、退休再就业的现象根源于美国公司曾经面临劳力匮乏的危机--当7600万在生育高峰期出生的人退休后，将会发生什么问题?当年老的员工陆续退休之后，经济学家预测到本年代末将会出现1亿的劳力短缺。一些诸如公共事业、教育和能源公司等产业部门早已开始致力于阻止公司的人才流失现象。因此，年老的员工希望继续工作，而雇主又需要他们--危机因此得以解决。事实确实如此吗?美国退休人员协会劳力问题部的主任Deborah Russell认为，事实并非完全如此。修订退休制度需要改变人们的态度和那些官僚化的退休金制度。“问题最终归结于：如果你已58岁，我还愿意在你身上投入多少?”Deborah说道：“这是雇主们必须解决的重大问题--这是为他们自己的利益着想。”
5.Like Shell,some major employers are ahead of the game,offering options like bridge jobs to attract and keep older workers. The advantages are many: surveys find older workers score high in company loyalty and productivity,and the bridge period can be used to transfer a veteran employee's knowledge and skills to the next generation. Quest Diagnostics,Cendant Group,New York Life and Verizon were among 11 corporations that recently teamed with the AARP to figure out how to hire and retain over-50 workers. Eli Lilly7,Procter & Gamble8 and Boeing partner with YourEncore,a placement company for retirees seeking project work. CVS/ pharmacy,Home Depot10 and Borders11 have "snowbird" programs to allow older workers to migrate south in winter,jobs in tow.
5、象壳牌公司一样，一些大型公司走在了问题的前面，他们通过提供返聘工作等选择来吸引和挽留年老的员工。此法好处颇多，研究表明年老的员工对公司的忠诚度和工作效率方面得分较高，而在返聘工作期间，又可以将有经验的员工的知识和技术传授给下一代。在最近与美国退休人员协会合作的11个公司中，有Quest Diagnostics、Cendant Group、New York Life 和Verizon公司，它们致力于解决如何雇佣并挽留年过50的员工。礼来、宝洁和波音公司与再就业公司YourEncore合作，帮助退休员工寻求设计工作。CVS医药公司、家得宝公司和Borders公司制定了“雪鸟计划”，使得年老的员工在冬天可以迁移到南方居住工作。
6.CVS learned in the early 1990s that less than 7% of its staff consisted of workers over age 50-a problem for a business with many older customers. Executives turned to networks of seniors,including local church groups,to spread the word about senior-friendly jobs with flexible hours and health benefits. It worked: CVS has raised its proportion of over-50 staff to nearly 18%. "For us,it was a business decision," says Stephen Wing,director of government programs. "We want our staff to look like our customers. Besides,older people have better customer-service skills."
6、在20世纪90年代早期CVS公司了解到，公司员工年龄在50岁以上的不到总人数的7%--这对于一个拥有很大老年顾客群体的公司来说是个问题。公司决策阶层转而求助于包括当地宗教团体在内的年老居民圈，向他们表明公司将提供适宜老年人的工作--工作时间灵活而且有益于身体健康。此法奏效了：CVS公司因此将年龄在50岁以上的员工人数比例提高到时了近总数的18%。“对我们来说，这是个商业决策，”政府规划部的主任Stephen Wing说道：“我们希望我们的员工就像是我们的顾客一样。此外，年老的员工掌握了更好地为顾客服务的技巧。”
7.Attracting and keeping older workers take some creativity. John Johns,65,recently tried to retire from his job as a CVS pharmacist in Sea Isle City,N.J.,so he and his wife Patricia could spend winters in Cocoa Beach,Fla. CVS persuaded him to keep working-by creating seasonal jobs for him in both locations. He enjoys the work,and the health plan covers his wife,who is not yet eligible for Medicare. "At this point in my life,I want to have more freedom,and they've accommodated me."
7、吸引并挽留住年老的员工需要有创造性。65岁的John Johns是新泽西洲Sea Isle高CVS公司的药剂师，最近打算退休，这样的话，他和妻子Patricia就可以在佛罗里达州的Cocoa海滩过冬了。CVS公司劝他继续工作，条件是为他在两地提供季节性工作。他喜欢这份工作，而且公司的医疗保险也考虑到了他的妻子，她目前还没有资格享受医保。John Johns说道：“此时此刻，我希望拥有更多的自由，而他们为我提供了这个机会。”
8.But while older workers are often eager to cross such a bridge,many companies haven't built it yet. Antiquated pension rules continue to push older workers out the door by penalizing or just not rewarding service beyond a given date. Some younger workers assume seniors can't keep pace with fast-changing technology and business pressures. Many also believe older workers strain payroll and benefits packages,although a recent AARP/Towers Perrin study showed that keeping older workers costs employers just 1% to 3% more than the cost of replacing them. Half of employers make no attempt at all to retain older workers-even those who are key to the business,according to the Society for Human Resource Management.
8、然而，当年老的员工时常渴望跨越返聘工作这座桥梁时，许多公司还没造好这座桥。滞后的退休金制度继续将年老的员工拒之门外，员工们在过了特定年限继续工作的话，要么受到百般刁难，要么得不到任何奖赏。一些年轻的员工认为，老年人无法适应快速变化的科技，也无法承受巨大的商业竞争压力。许多年轻人同时认为，年老的员工会使员工薪水吃紧，并分流员工的收益，尽管美国退休人员协会和Towers Perrin最近的一次研究表明，挽留年老的员工所需的成本比替换他们仅高出1%~3%。人力资源管理协会透露，有一半的公司根本未做任何努力来挽留年老的员工，即使那些员工对公司来说是极为重要的。
9.Pensions pose some of the biggest challenges for companies that want to keep older employees. The Internal Revenue Service13 prohibits employers from distributing pension payments to workers still on the job. And since many companies base the size of the pension on the worker's last two years of employment,outright retirement at a career peak is much smarter financially than phasing down to a lesser-paying bridge job. While some companies rehire retirees as independent contractors,"what's more likely to happen is,people will simply leave a job and then bridge with another employer," says Ken Dychtwald,co-author of Workforce Crisis.
9、退休金是那些试图挽留老员工的公司面临的最大挑战之一。美国国内税务局禁止公司向仍在工作的员工发放退休金。而且许多公司在发放退休金时是以员工最后两年工作的薪金为参照的，这就使得在事业高峰期直接退休，与等到退休之后再工作相比，从经济收入角度考虑就要明智得多。当一些公司返聘退休员工为合同工时，在《劳力危机》的合著者Ken Dychtwald看来，“其结果很可能是：人们就会直接从当前的工作退休，然后到另一个公司从事返聘工作”。
10.Meanwhile,the companies that are finding ways to hang on to their olderworkers benefit from an intangible,perhaps undervalued commodity: wisdom. AtShell,Markway is creating a strategy for updated safety standards gleaned fromhis decades of experience. "With the demographic cliff we're facing,it's doublyimportant for us to pass on our collective knowledge to the young guys comingup," he says. "At this rate,I figure I'll work another few years." Full-time sailingwill have to wait.
10、与些同时，那些正竭力挽留年老员工的公司就会受益于一个无形的可能被低估的商品--智慧。壳牌公司的Markway正在开创一种策略来更新安全程序，这得益于他几十年的工作经验。“我们正处在劳力短缺的悬崖边缘，这就使得将我们的集体智慧传授给年轻小伙子们的重要性得以倍增。”Markway说道：“这样的话，我想我还得再工作几年。”完全自由的扬帆之旅将不得不搁浅。
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