2/6/2015 – Consulting as a Bridge Between Full-time work and Retirement (The New York Times)

As baby boomers anticipate working longer and prefer a phased retirement, they are turning to the growing number of firms that specialize in placing older workers in part-time or temporary positions in specific industries. Some of the jobs are done on site, while others can be done from home or another remote location.

A 2013 retirement study that Merrill Lynch conducted with Age Wave, titled “Americans’ Perspectives on New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus,” found nearly half of participants wanted to continue working in the fields in which their careers were built. Employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that by 2022, positions in business and professional services will trail only health and social services in job growth.

And findings by Kevin Cahill, a research economist at the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College, and his colleagues show that 60 percent of older Americans who have a career transition to a bridge job before retiring. “Older Americans want to maintain their work, to get hours, flexibility and choice,” Dr. Cahill said.

Read the full article at The New York Times.