Whether they’re rewiring their careers or picking up odd jobs, people in their 70s are reentering the workforce. Traditionally entering an age of retirement, these workers are re-defining the purpose of life’s later decades by taking on new positions, looking for social interaction and augmented income.

Amidst a looming financial crisis and a volatile stock market, many former workers are finding part-time work to ensure financial stability. Kim Chaplain, a specialist adviser for work at the UK’s Centre for Ageing Better, told The Guardian that the organization “suspect[s] the rising cost of living is playing a role.” Bernadette Hempstead of Suffolk, England, receives a small private pension and a state pension as a retired human resource employee. However, those two sources of income were not enough to cover her living expenses, according to an interview with The Guardian. “As things get more expensive, it became impossible. I had also wiped out a lot of my savings during the period I was homeless,” said Hempstead, now a showroom floor assistant who is back on her feet.

The number of people aged 65 or over entering the workforce rose by 173,000 in the first quarter of 2022, according to new figures from the UK’s Centre for Ageing Better. After her husband died, Sue Brown re-entered the workforce just three years after retiring in order to make ends meet. Currently working at a kitchen canteen in Surrey, England, Brown spoke to The Guardian in a feature highlighting how many retirees are finding themselves in similar situations. “I mostly clean the tables and do the washing up, among other duties. It’s a nice place to work and I enjoy being around people,” she said. “I’ve always thrown myself into work, but now it’s keeping me alive too.”

According to the World Economic Forum, an increase in older employees may also be reflective of longer life spans, yielding a need to earn money for a longer period of time. Europeans in particular will spend an average of 36 years in the workforce, according to the European Commission’s data service Eurostat, with people in the Netherlands working an average of 42.5 years. Across European countries, men are estimated to work an average of 38.2 years compared to 33.7 years for women.

Many US retirees are going back to the workplace as well, looking for social interaction and community connections,. Data from the Indeed employment website indicated that 1.7 million formerly retired Americans returned to the workforce a year later.

A generation in its 60s and 70s are returning to the workforce, focusing on new goals and aspirations and combatting a rising cost-of-living. Many companies may have an opportunity to tap into this economically driven, experienced, and motivated demographic as this long-term trend perpetuates.

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