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A Reason to Get up in the Morning
London seems to have followed this advice intuitively,
switching gears completely mid-life and then creating
a role, later, that gracefully served both him and
his employer. He closed his family business of 30
years, a Philadelphia textile manufacturer, in 1979 after industry-
wide hard times. In his late 50s, London pursued his
growing passion for computers as an assistant professor of
information science and director of the academic computer
centers at Philadelphia University, then Philadelphia College
of Textile and Science.
Fifteen years later, facing heart bypass surgery, he told
his employer that he needed to "retire" from his previous
administrative post, but wanted to keep working in some
capacity. As he recovered from his surgery, London and
Philadelphia University worked out the fine print: he'd
scale back to a three-day-a-week computer support staff
member and part-time faculty member. Today, London
runs the school's distance learning operation and continues
to teach. "When people retire there are three things they
have to be able to do," he says. "They have to have a reason
to get up in the morning, they have to be with other
people, and they have to keep their brain active and keep
learning. I'm lucky that I've been able to do that. I'm doing
something different than what I did for the 15 years I
was here full time. I'm constantly being asked questions by
people on the staff here, and you have the feeling that you
are needed."
Like many older workers, finances were definitely a
factor in London's decision to keep working. While he had
enough to get by, he felt he and his wife Lila needed a little
more of a cushion to be truly worry-free. "There was always
that need for that little bit more to fill in," he says. "But
the main reason really was that I had seen too many people
retire and be unhappy. I wanted to stay in the field."
He believes his desire to keep learning and comfort with
change are essential to his ongoing success. "I don't try to
ever say 'Well this is the way we used to do it.' I realize that
things have to change."
William Hayes, WG'60, acknowledges that he didn't
want to retire when New York-based Walter Frank &
Co., the NYSE specialist firm where he'd long served as
a partner, was sold to Goldman Sachs in 2002. "Many
'mature' people find themselves replaced by younger
people," he said. "This really has to do with a cultural
change—employers want people who are aggressive,
forward, very energetic, while the 'mature’ generation
grew up in an era when this somewhat pushy persona
was not accepted."
But although Hayes, 69, found he had to leave his employer
more than 20 years post-merger, he transitioned
smoothly to a busy retirement filled with volunteer work
linked closely to his life’s work. "I am finding retirement
very rewarding," he says. "Part of that is being in New York,
where so much goes on every day, but I also do pro bono
career consulting for members of the New York Society
of Security Analysts and am part of the summer mentor/
student program. This keeps me in touch with all generations
and with what is going on," says Hayes, a two-term
president and long-time board member of the New York
Society of Security Analysts.
In the world of financial services, asset managers need
never retire—if they have their own customers, Hayes
notes. "Client control is a big divide," Hayes says, pointing
to New York asset manager Irving Kahn, now in his mid-
90s and still going strong. "Those without it are vulnerable,
drifting; those with it thrive. You can be working until your
100th birthday if you have your own customers."
In recent months, Hayes has noticed an intriguing employment
trend he urges other mature executives to seize
upon: high-level options within the non-profit world. "I see
'older' people—by that I mean 50-plus years—being
competitive for executive jobs in non-profits, where they
don’t seem to face the age/youth challenges in the for-
profit world," he says. "I think many non-profits value
experience more."
Many non-profits have or are in the midst of being restructured
to become more competitive, Hayes says, and
are adopting modern management and marketing practices.
"I think more mature workers should actively pursue this
area. Many probably don’t realize the management revolution
now going on in the non-profit world," he adds. "I
have seen some very senior financial types recycle themselves
in non-profits after being let go—it looks good on a
resume, gives them something to do, is a good platform to
keep up and make contacts. After a few years at a non-profit,
sometimes for pay, sometimes pro bono, they emerge in
another top job." .
Frequent contributor Nancy Moffitt is the former editor of the
Wharton Alumni Magazine.
Reaching Out to Older Workers in
America: A Sampling
Deloitte Consulting: Created a Senior Leaders program after
looking at its demographics and realizing that by 2003, 40
percent of its then partners would be 50 or older and eligible
to retire. The firm didn’t want to lose this talented group
of men and women en masse, so it developed the program
to help partners in their 50s redesign their career paths.
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. and St. Mary’s Medical Center of
Huntington, West Virginia: Created hiring practices that target
retirees, including hiring retirees as temporary employees
and replacement workers as well as establishing pools
of retirees who could be called in times of increased labor
demand. Other programs reintroduced retirees as full-time
employees.
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