[The math above…. 1 day in someone’s 65-year work existence, is equivalent to 3.6 seconds in 1 day. The day you retire is the equivalent time in seconds, to decelerate your work-life to ZERO]

I am nearing my goal/age milestone, when my status will change from ‘working’ to ‘retired’. I have been thinking about this for some time…… and I feel that I will experience serious –ve G forces, as I abruptly slow down from an active 60 hours a week of working life to close to ZERO work commitments. Of course, I instantly realize that I have ‘paid my dues’ to my family and to society, and I deserve fully to decompress and transition to a different life style.

Then I think about all the muscle memory I have developed over the last 40+ years and the decision making via electrical neuron based messages, which often do not even need to get to the brain – and are completed by reflex actions. All the knowledge based qualitative learnings and experiences – which can never be learned at any school – and the wastage of valuable resources when one retires….. It makes me wonder why we are not breaking the norm and re-harnessing key retired skills in a focused manner to channelize and mentor younger upcoming talent with pointers and guidance.

Sure, everyone plans for their retirement….. And, decelerating from 60 to ZERO should not happen in 1-day/3.6 seconds, but 3-5 years. With today’s advances in medicine/technology and the health conscious life styles people choose – we expect to outlive our parents by 10-15+ years. The first 3-5 years after one retires, nothing has changed except their Facebook/Linked-in status is now ‘Retired’. The individuals do not overnight lose their expertise, hands-on knowledge of problem solving and their deep understanding of people psyche, and what makes the clock tick at work.

So why are we in such a rush to let them loose on the farm, and leave them alone to graze? Some of it may be due to the thinking – “we retire after 65+ and do not want to work”. This cannot be further from the truth.

Most retirees (around 65+) are still in excellent health, have (hopefully) put aside their nest egg and are eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits – at least in the US. At this point in their life – they are not looking for a ‘career building job’, OR, to make a lot of (more) money. What is driving them is the need to stoke their self-worth in society and feel positive about participating and sharing their knowledge/learnings. Between 2000 and 2010, while the US population grew by about 10%, the retired population grew by 15%. This gap is widening in 2017, which indicates that the working population base is reducing, and we are replacing skilled/expert workers with new college graduates. This may not reflect as a ‘productivity gap’, as the younger generation comes in with a far higher set of technical and automation skills which compensates to some extent for the numbers. This still leaves money/retirees on the table… which, if harnessed could actually improve our societal productivity and quality of life for the elderly population base.

I have never understood why ‘unfortunately’ the Fortune 50/100/500 companies have not seized on this opportunity. I would expect most corporations to be losing a smaller %age (and not 15%) of their employee base every year (due to a younger-age skewed vs uniform employee age distribution). Nevertheless, they are losing key strategic contributors due to retirement. Unless you are a C-level officer – most of the other employees fall through the cracks and normally disappear in the twilight zone, when they come of age. Most C-level officers are automatically offered, multiple options for prolonged engagements in multiple paid part-time capacities.

My generation, which is looking for such opportunities, would be more than willing to come in as part-time, on-demand employees – to work on tactical projects/deliverables. This in turn allows the key permanent staff to stay focused on strategic deliverables and business goals. Remember that we do not need medical or special bonus/stock benefits, etc. and our net OPEX cost would be much lower than professional part-time/contractors who are more expensive.

This is an ‘out-of-the-box’ suggestion, which would allow HR teams in the Fortune XXX companies to claim tremendous Public Relationship gains. This not only gives back to society but signals a strong employee based partnering philosophy – which can only help in employee retention and hiring.

I do not expect a tidal change in which the Fortune XXX companies conduct their hiring business. My objective in scribing this today is to bring this to an awareness level. This is a win-win situation which can only spread good will and positive messages in their companies and in the social environments where they operate.

What do you think? If/When you are ready for retirement – would you want to continue in a ‘part-time’ capacity, with reduced compensation, contributing in critical areas in a work environment where you probably have a ton of good friends and acquaintances? I would think YES…