Retire Retirement - Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation

Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation by Tamara J. Erickson, speaker at the Onrec Expo 2008. Details here www.onrec.com/expo2008

ìAs a Boomer today, you have a unique opportunity to think about what you want and how you will get it. You have timeóand the changing world is offering you new opportunities.î -- From Introduction of Retire Retirement

Another book about retirement? Yes, but more. In this carefully researched book, Erickson makes a compelling argument that whatever lies ahead for retirees will be very different than the post-sixty lives of any previous generation. The economic opportunities Boomers will have over the next few decades are unprecedented.

As the gap between the number of workers available and organizationsí demand for talent, especially for employees with skills and experience, steadily widens, Boomers who want to continue making contributions in their professions will be increasingly welcome to do so. In Retire Retirement: Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation (Harvard Business Press; April 8, 2008), Tamara J. Erickson illuminates the new opportunities and explains how Boomers can seize advantage of them. Boomers, she points out, will have plenty of time to explore these new avenues. The reason: They will be the first generation to enjoy a significant period of time healthy, active, and free of child-rearing responsibilities. They will have as many as thirty extra years of this new ìmiddle age.î

How they harness these next thirty years of productive capacityówhether in traditional ìworkî or in a less conventional application of their skillsówill be their choice. But this is the time for them to begin thinking about what they want and how to get it.

In this conversational and optimistic book, readers will learn of the great opportunities ahead and see why the world looks the way it does to this age cohort. They will also discover why Boomers differ so markedly from the generations that came beforeóor that will come after.

Erickson reveals:

The four fundamental forcesóeconomic opportunity, flexible ways of working, a new life stage, and positive relationships with younger generationsóthat are transforming the options Boomers will have as they enter retirement age

Two frameworksóthe ìCareer Curveî and ìLife Lureîóthat Boomers can use to determine how much challenge and complexity they want to take on in their work and which elements of the work experience will engage them most

The new work arrangements becoming possible for Boomers who choose to stay close to their current careers

How Boomers can understand other generations and interact more effectively with them in the workplace

Creative ways to operate outside the traditional professional pathósuch as launching a new career or turning to social or volunteer work

Ericksonís rich storytelling shows how Boomers are renegotiating their career options in the workforce.

In 2008, as the first Boomers become eligible for early retirement, Retire Retirement provides a vital new resource to help readers begin to cultivate the opportunities that will fit their unique needsótoday and for many decades to come.

The Author: Tamara J. Erickson is both a respected, McKinsey Award-winning author and popular and engaging storyteller. Her compelling views of the future are based on extensive research on changing demographics and employee values and, most recently, on how successful organizations work. Well-grounded and academically rigorous, fundamentally optimistic, Tammyís work discerns and describes interesting trends in our future and provides actionable counsel to help both organizations and individuals prepare today. She is also a respected authority on technology and its implications for business and has extensive experience in corporate strategy and organizational effectiveness working with major firms around the world.