The Top 5 Workplace Benefits for Senior Workers

An increasing number of senior workers are either remaining or returning to the American workplace. It’s an economic phenomenon called the “Great Unretirement” by the World Economic Forum. Older workers are working for longer and putting off retirement both by choice and by necessity. There are many benefits to hiring and retaining senior workers, but to do so, companies must provide opportunities and benefits that will attract them in the first place. Trust & Will reveals some of the top choices for senior workers, including estate planning and retirement support.

5 Benefits to Hiring Senior Workers

An increasing number of senior adults are delaying their retirement or returning to work once more after retiring. 

For some, it’s a sign that they are in good health and have job satisfaction. For others, it’s a choice made by necessity driven by a tough economy and high cost of living. Changes to our social security and pension systems have not made the decision of retiring any easier. The changes should also be accredited in part to pure demographics; we have an aging population meaning we simply have more senior adults in the workforce than ever before while controlling other factors.

Regardless of the reasons, the fact remains: older workers are delaying retirement in hoards, and workplaces need to adjust by changing their candidate profiles and providing better support. Not only this, businesses will begin to realize the benefits of attracting and retaining senior workers. 

Here are 5 key benefits associated with hiring and retaining senior workers:

• Experience and knowledge: Senior workers have a wealth of experience and knowledge that they can bring to the workplace. This can be invaluable to businesses, as it can help them to improve their products and services, develop new strategies, and solve problems.

• Reliability and work ethic: Senior workers are often seen as being more reliable and having a stronger work ethic than younger workers. This is because they have a greater sense of responsibility and are more likely to be committed to their jobs.

• Mentorship and guidance: Senior workers can provide mentorship and guidance to younger workers. This can be very helpful for new employees, as it can help them to learn the ropes and develop their skills.

• Diversity and inclusion: Senior workers can help to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. This is because they come from a variety of backgrounds and have a range of different experiences. This can help businesses to better understand their customers and employees.

• Cost savings: Senior workers are often willing to work for lower wages than younger workers. This can save businesses money, especially during times of economic uncertainty.

Overall, there are a number of benefits associated with hiring and retaining senior workers. Businesses that are looking to improve their bottom line and create a more productive and positive work environment should consider hiring more senior workers.

5 Competitive Workplace Benefits for Senior Workers

Businesses have three opportunities to diversify their workplace by employing seniors. The first is to retain current senior workers by ensuring their job satisfaction and sense of workplace pride. The second is to entice retirees who are considering returning to the workplace, as many are post-COVID. Last but not least, employers can attract currently-employed workers who are interested in transferring to a different workplace with better benefits and opportunities.

Here are the top 5 benefits to be offered by employers who wish to attract and retain senior workers:

1. Estate Planning

Estate planning is a great employee benefit to offer to senior workers because it can help them protect their assets and ensure that their wishes are carried out after they pass away. Estate planning can also help to reduce the financial and emotional burden on loved ones during a difficult time.

Some of the benefits of estate planning for senior workers include:

• Protecting assets: Estate planning can help to protect assets from creditors, lawsuits, and other potential problems.

• Ensuring that wishes are carried out: Estate planning can help to ensure that a person's wishes are carried out after they die, such as who will inherit their assets and how they will be distributed.

• Reducing financial burden: Estate planning can help to reduce the financial burden on loved ones during a difficult time by providing for the payment of debts and expenses.

• Reducing emotional burden: Estate planning can help to reduce the emotional burden on loved ones by providing peace of mind that one’s affairs are in order.

Studies have shown that the stress resulting from financial insecurity and uncertainty is a leading cause of decreases in workplace productivity. Thus, offering direct solutions to workers so that they can get their personal and financial affairs in order, and thus achieve peace of mind, will improve workplace productivity.

Further, offering estate planning solutions demonstrates to employees that the employer cares for their long-term wellbeing, and not just their wellbeing during their period of employment. Because an Estate Plan lasts forever, and can be effective for multiple generations in the future, an employee may feel that the employer really cares about them and values them as an individual. This can help promote a culture of pride, belonging, and loyalty. 

Here, it is valid for an employer to be concerned about the costs associated with offering estate planning services to all employees. Luckily, there’s a solution! Trust & Will is an online estate planning platform with excellent customer support, at a fraction of the cost. Partnering with Trust & Will is a cost-effective and impactful solution for employers looking to provide this important benefit to its workers.

2. Flexible Work Options

Have you heard of Grandternity Leave? According to the Wall Street Journal, providing the opportunity to take paid leave to bond with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren is the new way to keep senior workers from quitting.

This is one example of flexible work options to provide, catered specifically to the unique needs of older workers. Younger workers are provided leave to bond with their babies, so why not provide family leave options that do not limit eligibility based on age and stage of life?

Similarly, it is not just young workers that desire opportunities to work from home, flexible hours, or even from abroad. AARP cites flexible work options as one of the top benefits that will help attract workers that are aged 50 years or older.

3. Supplemental Health Insurance

If you haven’t already, it’s time to review your health insurance programs and ensure that they are appealing to your senior workers. Contrary to popular belief, it is not more expensive to hire older workers due to increased healthcare costs. These workers can take advantage of government programs such as Medicare, which help cover most of their medical costs. Instead, employers can be creative by offering programs to help supplement the health care coverage that retirement-aged workers might already have.

AARP also cites flexible spending accounts (FSAs), free medical and prescription premiums, as well as the option to cover dependents like grandchildren as appealing options for senior workers. 

Bottom line, one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to health care. Age does play a factor in the importance and prevalence of health benefits, so it may be time to increase the number of a la carte options that you can offer to seniors.

4. Professional Development

Cultivating a culture of lifelong learning and training can also attract and retain employees. According to AARP, many of the companies that were ranked as a top workplace for senior workers were those that offered robust professional development and training programs. This means that training should never conclude, regardless of age, experience, or work status.

Two examples were cited:

• Scripps Health: Offers tuition reimbursement, on-site classroom and remote training, and certification classes. Highly skilled clinicians are offered the opportunity to serve as role models or teachers within patient care units.

• The YMCA of Greater Rochester: Offers ‘Mentoring Across Generations,” which creates a culture of learning across age groups. Employees learn about the organization and advance their expertise in specific disciplines. This YMCA also offers both in-house classroom and remote training, certifications, local training events, and reimbursement of professional membership dues. 

5. Pre- and Post-Retirement Support

Companies that offer strong pre- and post-retirement assistance programs are more likely to attract and retain older workers. 

One example of a pre-retirement program is a savings plan with employer matching. Another example is a phased retirement program, or a program that allows workers to “test out” retirement without sacrificing their vested benefits. Last but not least, you may consider offering 100 percent vesting options once a worker reaches retirement age.

Another unique approach would be to continue offering some type of assistance for employees after they retire, such as welfare check-ups or meal programs. This sends a message that the company cares about an employee even after they stop working for the company due to retirement. 

Employers have creative autonomy to come up with programs that fit their workers’ needs best; the point is to provide a sense of security around retirement, which is a major life event for older workers. Providing any sort of assistance surrounding retirement will cultivate a culture of caring that will earn senior worker loyalty.

Start Providing a Key Benefit for Older Workers Today

While revamping your benefits package to help cater to older workers can be quite the undertaking, there is no reason to delay making improvements. Start with the low-hanging fruit that offers a ton of positive impact, which is offering estate planning to workers. 

This is a great solution to start with because estate planning is important to any workers regardless of their demographic. Further, it’s in-demand from younger workers as well. Last but not least, you can partner with an online platform solution such as the one provided by Trust & Will to make the benefit cost-effective and easy to integrate right away. 

Employees who create an Estate Plan through Trust & Will will have peace of mind knowing that they’ve secured their financial future and made their final wishes known. Further, they’ll feel more confident knowing they’ve started taking the steps to building wealth and security for future generations. 

From the employer’s point of view, offering estate planning solutions has a couple of strong incentives. For starters, they get to demonstrate to employees that they care about the long-term wellbeing of their workers and their families. Further, they are helping employees obtain a desired confidence regarding their personal and financial affairs; this is proven to promote productivity. 

At Trust & Will, we’re here to help keep things simple. You can create a fully customizable, state-specific estate plan from the comfort of your own home. Take our free quiz to see where you should get started, or compare our different estate planning and settlement  options today!

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