Four County Labour Market Planning Board Is Looking At Encouraging Some Retirees Back To The Work Force

by Bob Montgomery

The Four County Labour Market Planning Board is considering the possibility of encouraging retired people back to work.

Research Coordinator Jordan Meisel says Grey, Bruce, Huron, and Perth counties have an older population now than they have ever had in the past. She says 25% of the total population in those counties is 65-years old or older. It's also older than the provincial average at 47.8, compared to the provincial average of 41.8, and that has a significant impact on the Four County's work force. Those four counties are also feeling the retirement wave across Ontario as baby-boomers hit retirement age more because they have a higher proportion of those people who are approaching retirement age, and that puts even more pressure on a work force that is already dealing with a labour shortage.

Meisel says one of things she's looking at as part of her research into the labour shortage is the possibility of encouraging some of the people who are currently retired to come back to work. Certainly some people are very happy to retire and are pursuing other things, but there are also some people who would be happy to come back to work under some kind of a flexible work arrangement, either part time or self employment, but there are a significant number of retired people who have a lot to offer and would be happy to re-join the work force.

Meisel says the population in Grey, Bruce, Huron, and Perth is growing, but most of the people contributing to that growth are seniors. So they do have a large percentage of seniors but a lot of those seniors still have a lot to offer and its a group employers should be considering.