Women are the country's most powerful emerging workforce resource.

As Executive Director of New Directions Career Center (NDCC), I am constantly reading studies and researching statistics about women in today’s work force.  In addition, NDCC staff often read about and/or notice trends and employment-related issues in the course of delivering programs and services to empower women to achieve economic self-sufficiency.


A trend that we noticed about 15 months ago, is the growing number of "seasoned worker" women (ages 55 and older) who are in need of entering or re-entering the work place.  In addition, many women (and men) are choosing to work past the age of 65 - the age typically thought of as "retirement age."  This trend is expected to continue with the aging of Baby Boomers.

Here are some facts related to this age group:

DID YOU KNOW?

Women, especially women over age 55, are this country’s most powerful workforce resource.  According to the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics, Employment and Earnings, January 2005:

• Labor force participation rates for women, over 55 years of age continue to increase.  The labor force participation rate was 24% in 1994, 25.6% in 1999, as compared with 30.5% in 2004.
• There were 10.3 million employed women aged 55 and over in the United States in 2004.
• These women were most frequently employed in management, professional and related occupations, (3.9 million) and sales and office occupations (3.8 million).
• The remainder were employed in service occupations (1.8 million); production, transportation, and material moving occupations (674,000); and natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (78,000).
• The 10 leading occupations for women aged 55 and over in 2004 were secretaries and administrative assistants (720,000); elementary and middle school teachers (371,000); registered nurses (353,000); nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides, (251,000); cashiers (240,000); maids and housekeeping cleaners (230,000); first-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers (228,000); managers, all other (207,000); and first-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers (204,000).

These numbers are likely to grow exponentially as baby boomers hit their zenith!    There are 1.5 females for every male at the age of 50.  This means that dynamic, innovative companies will increasingly rely on exceptionally qualified, experienced women at every level of their organization.

In late 2009, NDCC started a new program entitled "Bridging the Digital and Professional Divide"-- a program designed for seasoned workers to develop computer literacy and the communication skills they need to be successful in today’s multi-generational, technology-oriented workplace. For more information about this program OR to find out more about how you or your organization can benefit by hiring seasoned workers, contact New Directions Career Center at (614) 849-0028.