| The meaning of retirement living may be | | | | workers continued to work at peak capacity. |
| undergoing a serious change in the 21st | | | | There was proven to be more variation in work |
| century. Retirement normally connotes a | | | | efficiency within age groups rather than |
| period of rest and leisure at the end of the | | | | between age groups. According to Farr, Tesluk |
| working cycle. In the new age with lower | | | | and Klien (1998), there was no consistent |
| birth rates it may be difficult for people to | | | | relationship between age and performance |
| retire without seriously affecting | | | | across settings. |
| productivity. The meaning of retirement | | | | |
| living may undergo a change. It may be | | | | With declining birthrates expected to cause a |
| substituted by the concept of continuous | | | | shortage of workers in the coming years, the |
| working in various stages of life for varying | | | | issue of early retirement has come into |
| amounts of time. Retirement living may | | | | focus. There will be consequences to profits |
| involve periods of work punctuated with | | | | and productivity with the wise and talented |
| periods of leisure and learning. Sheppard and | | | | elders exiting the workforce. There will be |
| Rix (1977) forecast that keeping older adults | | | | costs of supporting a talented nonworking |
| in the work force would make sound economic | | | | population fully capable of productive work. |
| and social policy sense. | | | | |
| | | | There needs to be a rethink on allocating |
| Due to inflation and rising health care | | | | responsibilities to older workers. There has |
| costs, older adults are choosing to remain in | | | | to also be a change in the attitudes of |
| the workforce past the traditional retirement | | | | managers and younger workers to the number of |
| age. Retirement living as permanent | | | | older employees. There is a growing interest |
| separation from work has become a matter of | | | | in re-engineering the work environment to |
| choice. The idea of bridge employment is | | | | account for physiological aging changes. The |
| coming in. In this model, older workers | | | | concept of retirement living is changing |
| perform - temporary, part time occasional | | | | completely. Only some positions in today's |
| work activity. Bridging involves work in a | | | | society remain static and do not require |
| job other than career. Career jobs take up a | | | | continuous education. |
| substantial portion of working life, usually | | | | |
| under a single employer. | | | | Adult education has its own implications to |
| | | | the new concept of retirement living. Adult |
| Bridging is often described as a second | | | | education views older workers as active |
| career. Reasons to return to work include the | | | | agents capable of negotiating different roles |
| liking for work, financial need and to keep | | | | within the workplace. The role might involve |
| busy. Work is more than earning a living. It | | | | remaining in or parting from work situations |
| provides us a reason to live. Workers tend to | | | | or being in a position where they return to |
| remain in the workplace past the age of quiet | | | | work in part time or full time jobs |
| retirement living because of better health, | | | | interspersed by periods of the traditional |
| mental and physical and due to the need to | | | | concept of retirement living. |
| remain occupied. Rix (1990) showed that older | | | | |