You might think that Eons members, since they're all 50+, would be focusing their attention on the approach of the leisure lifestyle that supposedly awaits them after they stop working for a living. You'd be very wrong.
By far, the biggest topic in cRANKy searches has been jobs and employment. Those two words, alone, have accounted for 42% of the searches in this general area.
Eons members clearly are aware, however, that they are nearing or have reached the classic retirement ages of 65 or 62. More than 19% of the clicks in this area have been on jobs after retirement. This strong interest supports the findings in a recent Pew Research Center survey that 77% of current workers expect to continue working for pay after they retire; "this has now become a widely-held expectation among virtually all kinds of people."
If our generation follows through on these intentions, the results would constitute a revolutionary change in the ways Americans live their lives as they age. According to a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Matthew Greenwald & Associates, only 12% of current retirees work (even part time), and only 27% have ever worked for pay after getting their "gold watch."
Even though many of us have worked for a single company or in a specific field for much longer than is the norm for younger workers, our searches reflect both today's less stable employment market and the desire for differently-sturctured work as we get older. About 15% of employment-related searches have been for want ads, employment agencies, and career centers. Over 11% have been for options other than routinely working for a paycheck, such as starting own business, franchising, and work from home.
Of the other related searches, two that merit attention are "50+ jobs" (3.7%) and "job resources in the UK" (2.8%). Not only do they show the range of issues our members are dealing with, they suggest that our primary concern is with job seeking in general, rather than with issues such as age discrimination or reducing our workloads (as legitimate as those issues are).
In addition to cRANKy, Eons has many other resources to help you explore and resolve questions about work. Turn to Eons Money's Career Center for illuminating articles on jobs and careers. From there you have a doorway to the Eons Career Center, powered by Monster, with all its unmatched database and tools and resources to make your job search successful.
posted by stlouisarcher
Now, I have several disabling conditions that have affected me for decades, so I've had to solve mitigating circumstances many others haven't had to deal with. However, as a long-time student of the ironic, I noticed that my standard of living didn't decline much at all once my disability claim was granted, and that in "retirement" I had WAY more free time to pursue my interests, most of which don't cost a lot, than in the past. So I've lost a little income but have gained LOTS of time. If I have to choose one or the other, I choose time. Also, now that the stresses of being an office drone are gone, my mental state has improved considerably and I have more energy than ever before. I'm able to consider a new career, something that was always an unrealistic fantasy before now.
By the way, this Cranky business has me baffled, and I've been doing internet searches for a long time. I don't know why I was directed to your blog or how this search engine (which doesn't seem like a search engine) works. We're all Eons pioneers at this point in the venture, however, so I'm having faith that what works will be kept and what doesn't will be scrapped or fixed.
Be of good cheer, all!
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