Employers Extending Flexibiliy to Working Snowbirds

Striking a similar theme to a Christian Science Monitor article, Jenn Abelson reports in the Boston Globe about employers, such as CVS, Borders, and Home Depot, that fear labor shortages as baby boomers age and allow workers to transfer to stores in warmer regions during winter. While the snowbird perk is usually available to all employees, it is mainly aimed at older workers. In fact, she reports that CVS has specifically "tried to attract older workers by tapping into senior centers to recruit staff and accommodating employees who have time-shares and second homes."

In addition, to the two-location workers, Ableson notes that employers, such as Bright Horizons, that are already used to offering flexible work environments for employees with young families are finding that older workers are now desiring them, too. Over the past five years, the number of Bright Horizons workers age 55 years and older jumped 81% to 1,054 from 583,and the company says it's willing to accommodate people, even if they want to work from home in warmer locations. Hoffer Serpa, a Bright Horizons spokeswoman, is quoted as saying: "There's a shift that recognized the fact that people without children have their own desires and needs for flexibility, whether it's caring for older parents or changing the place they live....It's easier to retain people than train people and so we want to help support people in every part of their life."

Source: "Snowbirds at work" The Boston Globe (March 1, 2006)

Companies Providing Two-Location Jobs for Snowbirds

A number of retailers and healthcare providers are implementing snowbird programs, which lets employees shuttle between two locations on a seasonal basis. Thus, as Marilyn Gardner reports in The Christian Science Monitor, for six months of the year, John Johns works as a CVS pharmacist in Sea Isle City, N.J., but every November, he bids his goodbyes and heads to Cocoa Beach, Fla., where, three days a week, he logs 30 hours a week at CVS pharmacies in the area.

In the early 1990s, less than 7 percent of CVS workers were over age 50. By 2005 that figure had risen to 17 percent. "Some need to work," [Steve Wing, director of government programs for CVS,] says. "Some just need to be surrounded by other people."

The company's snowbirds are not entry-level employees. "We're not just using them to pull in carts," Wing says. They include greeting-card specialists, cosmetic consultants, photo supervisors, and managers.

Not all employees who head south for the winter want to work. "Sometimes they just need three or four months off," Wing says. "They can go to Florida, and then we'll rehire them."

Source: "Snowbirds work where it's warm" Christian Science Monitor (February 8, 2008)

Commentary: Boosting Iowa To Entice Older Workers

Richard Doak, a columnist for the Des Moines Register, is recommending that if Iowa is going to maintain a workforce anywhere near the size of the present workforce, it will need a lot of people to decide to keep working beyond traditional retirement age. In particular, state government and private-sector employers should work together to provide a lot more of the kind of jobs older workers are interested in--ones that give them a sense of giving back to the community, and generally with less stress and probably less than full-time hours. Thus, he suggests Iowa needs things such as:

• Fast-track procedures in licensing and certification to allow mid-career workers to shift into rewarding fields such as social work, health care and community development.
• More jobs that offer part-time, flex hours and seasonal employment, so seniors can work but still take in their grandkids' Little League games or make a snowbird trip south.
• More housing developments, transportation, recreation and workplaces that involve less hassle, more ease of living.

Source: "Make Iowa the place to be for older workers"Des Moines Register.com (January 16, 2006)