Second Careers: Millions of Older Workers Are Choosing to Do Well by Doing Good for Others

Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

After my friend Anne left a successful career on Wall Street, she spent several years writing fiction. She completed two novels, then realized that the issues and problems in the real world had become more compelling than the stories she was making up.

"What was I doing writing fiction when I could be out there with real people, doing something meaningful?” she told me. “Cliché or not, I wanted to use my business skills and international experience to make an impact on the  world.”

As it turns out, she is in good company, according to a study released today  by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based think tank on boomers, work and aging. The 2008 Encore Career survey asked 3,500 Americans between the ages of 44 and 70 about their current and future work plans and preferences.

The results indicate that a majority of people in that age group want to use their skills and experience to help others. In fact, the report estimates that between 5 and 8 million Americans are already involved in what Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures, calls an “encore career”—meaningful work that combines earning an income with making a contribution to society. “I think of it as practical idealism,” he says.

What the Study Means

The results of the study may be early evidence of a trend. “For us, the major finding was the numbers,” says Freedman. “This is not just an abstract ideal.  Millions of people are already acting on this impulse.”

People like Ed Speedling, who became an advocate for the homeless after a career as a health care executive, or Beverly Ryder, who brought her years of corporate experience to a new role in public education. (These stories and others can be found on Civic Ventures’ networking site, www.encore.org.)

Freedman credits these “pioneers” with “blazing the path” for those behind them. And considering that there are 78 million baby boomers, that’s a lot of people to play “follow the leader.” According to the study, nearly half of those not already in encore careers have a strong desire to move into such jobs. 

“If even a small fraction of baby boomers go into encore careers, it could have a transformative effect on industries that are so dependent on human resources to be effective,” says Freedman.

This is good news for education, health care, government and the nonprofit sectors, all of which already are experiencing critical labor shortages. A study by the Bridgespan Group—a Boston-based management consulting group for the nonprofit sector—reported that nonprofit organizations will need some 640,000 new senior leaders over the next 10 years, and that number could rise as high as 1.2 million.

Changing Public Policy

While Freedman acknowledges that those who want to pursue an “encore career” must take some of the responsibility to make that transition, he also thinks that society should meet people halfway. That’s going to require changes on many levels, he says. “We’ll probably see a dramatic increase in life coaching and workshops for more affluent people, but if we are going to tap the talent in other sectors of the boomer population, we need changes in public policy.”

In the first place, he suggests getting rid of penalties for working longer. Making affordable health care accessible could encourage active participation in encore careers, he says. Freedman also argues for the creation of new kinds of incentives, like IBM’s Transition to Teaching program, which prepares employees to take on a second career as a math or science teacher. 

“And we need more online resources for people wanting to make this kind of shift,” says Freedman, who notes that most of the major job sites offer openings in other industries.

The study reports that people already in their encore career discovered that many problems that they had anticipated—like the lack of flexibility or the fear of being underappreciated—never materialized. Over 75 percent were satisfied with the salary and benefits, but the need to learn new skills and coping with a loss of seniority continued as concerns. Still, the feedback from those who have already embarked on an encore career was positive.  “The message seems to be ‘try it, you’ll like it,’ ” says Freedman.

That’s certainly true for my friend Anne, who’s now working in the nonprofit sector in the area of global poverty. “Right now, there’s nothing else I’d rather do,” she says.

Survey Results

The survey of 3,500 men and women was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc. by telephone and on the Internet from February through April 2008.  The respondents were divided into three categories: those in encore careers, those interested in such careers and those not interested.  The complete study is available at www.civicventures.org.

Among the key findings related to those in encore careers:

•  The majority were between the ages of 51 and 62. More than half were women.

•  Most (52 percent) are engaged in professional or managerial careers, and an additional 28 percent in other white-collar occupations. Nearly one in five (18 percent) have blue-collar jobs.

•  The largest group (42 percent) lives in the suburbs; 30 percent live in urban areas and 28 percent in small towns and rural areas.

•  More than a third of those who chose encore careers did so for financial reasons and health benefits.

•  Most reported a high level of satisfaction (84 percent) and felt they were making a difference (94 percent).