30 Fast-Growing Careers for Older Workers

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I am not so sure the baby boomers are the answer to the work force in the coming years. So in that sense I am baffled as to what is going on here.
Many workers wish they could get out and let the younger get in. Especially for the employer who is the one to suffer with the aging workforce. Aging as we know it slows the response time: the reaction time: the hand eye coordination is slower: a possible risk to safety and on and on....
I am trying to make sense of it but can't ......

makesenseofit of PA 7:03PM August 22, 2010

I retired at age 62 due to open heart surgery requiring three by passes. After being off for about year i got bored doing alot of odd jobs aroung the house. I knew that i could still be productive in both sales and seasonal tax work. Insurance management was my privious position so I applied and work in insurance sales at my own liesure. I also do seasonal tax work for H&R which has both seasonal jobs and full time jobs. It would be worthwhile to explore these possibilities if you are looking for a job to supplement your retirement.
The training is exellent and very inexpensive!

santos castillo of TX 7:00PM August 22, 2010

I am 57 years old, didn't finish college and work in a cabinet door shop. I am small in stature-only 4'9" with shoes on. I had polio when I was 2 years old and have had 6 surgeries on my legs. I do pretty well, but have many problems with my back and neck and I am in a lot of pain most of the time. I also have congestive heart failure and become tired very easily.
My job requires that I lift, bend, and twist as I run machinery to help make cabinet doors. I can no longer work full time due to my heart condition and as time goes on, it is becoming more and more difficult to do what is required.
Since I work mostly with men 25 or so years younger than myself, I have to show up to work ready and able to work hard and fast. I'm not sure how much longer I can do this and with this terrible economy, I have not been able to find other work. I do not have any other training, so am very limited in what jobs I can apply for. I also live in a small town where opportunity is limited.
My question is: What do you do when you are limited physically and have little training in anything else? I'm too young to retire and too tired to work and go back to school (no one would hire me anyway if I graduate college at around 62 or so).

Elisa Borrego of UT 6:07PM August 22, 2010

Not sure the validity of this article as I have found it not only difficult to hold on to a job past 55 but darn near impossible to find a new one. I lost my job as an Admin Asst at the age of 59 after 10 years with a company. I have worked in that field since age 17 and am very good at what I do. Two years of looking for FT jobs, over 400 applications and I am now waiting to reach 62 and apply for Soc. Sec. I also have friends and friends who have friends who are also loosing their jobs once they hit the mid-50s for various reasons, down-sizing or job elimination being the typical 'excuse.' If you have a job and can keep it - good for you. But please, don't assume that older workers will be hired at the blink of an eye - no matter what the salary. I applied for and begged for starting wages that a 'newbie' would get and was either told that I was over-qualified, or another applicant was better qualified. 40 years' experience and someone else was better qualified? My solution - mandatory retirement at age 65 for all and full Soc Sec benefits beginning at 62. This opens the jobs to the younger workers who can then pay into the system and help build it up. The other answer, we all need to learn to live within our means and stop wanting everything just because you want it. If you don't need it - don't buy it. You'd be surprised on how much you can learn to live without - and I don't mean living without food and a place to live either.

C Radtke of WI 6:04PM August 22, 2010

I always worked as an office secretarial administrative assistant. However, due to friction or economic trends I never held anyone position longer than 7 years.
I was able to find work and thought I had a comfortable nest egg to use when I reached age 71-1/2 with a major employer's matching stock plan. Due to poor legal advice I accepted a buy out from this employer before it was common.
I worked as a temp/contract employee. All would have been well if a direct hire position had not laid me off at age 60. I was too young to collect social security and the unemployment benefits ended without a second extension. Thus, I had to withdraw heavily from my employee pension. Today there is very little left in my 401-K.
However, because I always continued to attend college night and weekends, I was able to obtain employment as a substitute teacher last year at age 68. I love it and I love the children most days. I enjoyed having my summer off, but I am looking forward to returning in the fall and not only because of the exta money which is always a plus. I truly do enjoy the teaching and understanding how much our educational system has changed since I was an elementary, middle school and high school students.
Perhaps, I had grown stagnant in my office administrative clerical work.
Becky, Clinton Twp. Mi age 69

Rwbecca Paquette of MI 5:38PM August 22, 2010

the jobs listed in the above article are jobs that people in there 40's-50's find unable to do due to lifting, bending, pushing etc. and many employers see gray hair and pop your too old. this I have seen more and more as time goes by, and sometimes the person can and is able and quilfied to do the job. then we have seen the person that worked 30-40 years---his place of employment closed. and they found that yes the can collect their pension they worked hard for but at a much less rate due to the fact the the business failed. the only ones that got their money were those at the top collecting millions of dollars. who said all is fair in reirement,,big laugh

FRAN DREISIGMEYER of PA 5:24PM August 22, 2010

I'm in a desirable field as a registered nurse with a specialty in disease management and certification in diabetes education. I have many years of E.R. and critical care experience. As an older nurse I cannot do the rotating shifts and the 12 hours in the E.R. There are no jobs for people like me. The hospitals are only hiring new grads and/or having the floor nurses assume the responsibilities versus having a certified or credentialed person or program deliver the service. Most in my situation and experience have had our jobs cut do to budget and there is no work.

P. Sicherman of NV 5:23PM August 22, 2010

Working after 65 as a nurse? Ha, Ha. Patients are larger and much more sick in hospitals. There is no way older nurses can do the back breaking work that is in the hospitals now.

lisa of MD 4:42PM August 22, 2010

Good stats. Helpful to the forming of reality world view. Others, who are and have been living in the fairy tale American dream view, can always have their disillusioned resentment manipulated by Fox News or Sarah P., but facts speak best, and the trends may shift, but the priciples have not changed. God loves the child who has his own. It's not an even playing field; never has been, here or any where. Those who decry socialism, (what's that??), are the same who are covering for those who have protected corrupt free market abuses. Not surprising, but where are the skeptics. Some, I know well, saw this Socal Security trend on it's way; had little or no work history, and so decided on early disablity in their 50's. No more work; Time to improve their properties and engage in freelance, off the books enterprises.

Ken Baker of NV 4:39PM August 22, 2010

I'm in a desirable field (registered nurse), but I may not be physically able to continue to do the work. It is extremely demanding on the body and, in this day of working "smarter not harder" we do not get any help with the lifting, pushing, pulling, bending, etc. I have applied for less physical positions, but they see my gray hair and find "another candidate uniquely qualified". I am grateful that I chose the health care field & have enjoyed the experiences & skills. I believe I still have something to offer, but unless you can work 12-hour shifts, the choices are extremely limited.

Leslee of FL 4:39PM August 22, 2010