Is Job Sharing the Balance for an Aging Workforce?

One of job sharing’s biggest benefits is flexibility. Oftentimes, the first groups who come to mind for flexibility are those in need of parental leave or caretakers. But we think one of the most valuable use cases revolves around people thinking about retirement. The pre-retirees open the door for so much more than flexibility. When employers allow seniors to job share, it allows for retention of deep institutional knowledge and allows for the opportunity of the pre-retiree to train up and co-develop another employee who might want to learn the role, therefore solving for what otherwise could have been a gap, plus expensive recruiting costs had that employee just walked out the door.

According to the CNBC article, “Employers offer older workers flexible retirement,” the growth rate of older workers in the labor force is more than three times that of all workers, and an aging workforce means employers and employees will have to be more flexible. In the article, Jim Godwin, who was VP of Human Resources at Bon Secours Health System in Virginia at the time of the article, states:

“Most employee benefit designs have been around since 1960s and are geared toward families with kids. We want to be flexible with our benefits.”

He goes on to say that they want their benefits to encourage older workers to stay, not push them to leave.

Job Sharing Provides Options

According to this Forbes article, a growing number of Americans plan to work past the age of 70, suggesting the pandemic prompted many Americans to rethink their retirement strategies in order to maintain their living standards.

Getting creative with how companies retain these valuable employees, while transferring institutional knowledge is key for everyone’s long term success.

“45% of U.S. workers envision reducing their work hours in a phased transition into retirement.”

- The Harris Poll’s Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers (released May 2020)

Job sharing can provide an option for seniors to continue to earn an income, while also still giving them the balance and time off to enjoy life that everyone deserves.

By matching talent together, critical knowledge is retained, team members can apprentice into new roles and seniors are given an opportunity to contribute to the workforce while maintaining balance and financial stability.

Job Share Connect’s unique talent software provides a way to understand what your talent needs and empowers them to find the perfect match for whatever their unique situation is within your organization, without creating gaps in the process. From the initial talent assessment to the planning, organization, and implementation of the job share, Job Share Connect makes it easy. If you are ready to join our talent pool or interested in learning more about how job sharing can help retain talent at your company, connect with us today!