How to avoid being pushed into retirement amid the pandemic

Yahoo Finance’s SIbile Marcellus and Alexis Christoforous discuss how to combat ageism in the workplace.

Video transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: --of "Career Control." Sibile?

SIBILE MARCELLUS: So this series is all about giving you, our viewers, some career control. And I've been speaking to the insiders-- hiring experts at LinkedIn, Bankrate, and other companies-- and this is what they're telling me. The biggest financial regret for baby boomers going into the pandemic was not having enough retirement savings. So if you're in your 50s and you're accumulating debt and approaching retirement, then it's likely that you're going to have to work much longer than you were planning to.

Now, Bankrate says that prior to the pandemic, 54% of boomers-- now I'm not talking about boomers who are permanently disabled or already retired. But 54% of boomers working said that they were behind on their retirement savings. So where does that leave baby boomers who are about to retire but still need that income? Well, hiring experts tell me that most baby boomers want to reach age 66 or 67 to fully qualify for 100% of their Social Security benefits. But one of the biggest threats is job cuts or layoffs, companies doing restructuring plans that tend to skew towards younger workforces and lower salaries.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: So Sibilie, what are-- Sibile, what are some ways that people can sort of make up for lost time, if you will?

SIBILE MARCELLUS: So here's what hiring experts are telling me-- suggesting that people should do if you're a baby boomer and you find yourself in this kind of situation where you're three or four years out from hitting your goal age for retirement, but job cuts or layoffs could beat you to the punch. So here's what you do. Here's the suggestion. Number one, proactively reach out to your manager or boss first.

Once they grant you that meeting, define a new role for yourself at the company. Be prepared. Have bullet points, a strategic plan for how you can help the company. And take different assignments. Now, if a job cut or layoff is inevitable, then insiders suggest that what you do is offer your employer to become a gig employee or part-time employee.

Here's the thing. 30 hours per week is the threshold to be a full-time employee. If you suggest, for example, working 20 hours per week, that makes you part-time employee. Your employer gets to have your services, but also saves some money.

Now, that may not be for everybody. Maybe you don't want that pay cut. But as a gig employee, you could then also work for other employers and make up for that pay difference or possibly even make more money than you were before you had that arrangement.

And also, let's remember, the gig economy is very attractive to many baby boomers, because they're-- many times age is not as much of a factor when vying for short-term contracts or additional income. Plus, you get to design your own future.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: I like that, right? Put the power back into the people's hands. All right, Sibile Marcellus, thanks so much for that latest installment of "Career Control."