During National Employ Older Workers Week, AmeriCorps Seniors Director Atalaya Sergi shares how national service supports our older workforce and organizations.
The rising average and median age of Americans requires our institutions, employers, and communities to consider and include older adults in workforce development programs. As of 2022, 23.3 percent of the civilian labor force was aged 55 and older, up from 12.4 percent in 1998. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that individuals aged 65 and older will make up 9.4 percent of the workforce by 2028.
Older adults are a vital, growing segment of the labor force. Some older Americans work beyond the age of 65 due to financial pressures such as medical debt and the increased cost of living. Others work to acquire new skills, socialize, pursue passions, and feel productive. As Americans live longer, healthier lives, more of us will extend our working years by choice or necessity. Advocating for inclusive workspaces where older workers can thrive and contribute benefits everyone.
Every year, during the last full week of September, National Employ Older Workers Week strives to educate employers and communities about the realities, needs, and opportunities associated with our aging workforce. Older employees can benefit businesses as mentors, thought leaders, and examples demonstrating strong work ethics and commitment to quality.
AmeriCorps Seniors provides support for older workers year-round. Volunteering can be an effective strategy for workforce development. To develop this type of opportunity for older adults, AmeriCorps Seniors funded community organizations to support older adults in enhancing their skills and securing employment. We've backed our belief in older workers, and that service can be a pathway, with $12 million in recent grants.
AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers seeking employment opportunities are serving with local organizations that close gaps and address community needs in healthcare, caregiving, education, and legal and financial services. These AmeriCorps Seniors Workforce Development grantees provide our volunteers with training, certifications, mentoring, coaching, transportation, job placement, and other support for professional and para-professional careers. Several programs offer competitive stipends to reduce financial barriers for older adults interested in serving as a pathway to employment:
- AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers with the Lifespan of Greater Rochester receive training through a respite care certification program and serve as respite support volunteers. Training equips volunteers with the skills to enhance their job readiness and to transition from unpaid volunteers to paid respite professionals.
- Through the New York City Department for the Aging, volunteers undergo a series of training, which includes quality skills development, upskilling, credential training, job placement, and supplemental follow-up services that support job retention, in addition to community service assignments.
- The HAP Foundation strives to expand access to hospice and palliative care. Volunteers serve as community health workers serving people in historically underserved Chicago communities. The volunteers earn certifications like those held by other national community health workers.
- The National Council on Aging, Inc. provides advocacy and resources to improve older adults' health, well-being, and economic security. Volunteers in the northern panhandle of West Virginia will train at community health facilities and earn certifications as echocardiogram technicians, phlebotomists, or certified nursing assistants from West Virginia Northern Community College.
- The Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission, Inc. seeks to elevate the quality of life in Northern Kentucky through advocacy, education, and community service. Volunteers interested in legal or financial services will be trained and placed with nonprofit organizations that provide financial education, tax preparation, housing assistance, legal services, job training, and adult education services. Through the program, volunteers will earn financial services or legal certifications.
- Porter-Leath empowers children and families in Memphis, Tenn., through a diverse program offering. AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers will earn Child Development Associate certificates as they support children in classroom settings across Memphis. They will help address the shortage of qualified early childhood teachers in the area.
- The University of Chicago trains AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers who live on the South Side or Southland of Illinois to assist with community medical needs as clinical research assistants. Volunteers will increase senior access to oral health services through their service and subsequent employment, mitigate loneliness, and expand senior access to other health interventions and medical research.
AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers enrich their communities with knowledge, skills, lived experience, and necessary service. At AmeriCorps, we honor and support their return to the workforce or change in careers. We all have a role in ensuring that older workers can satisfy their material needs and contribute to our nation.
Learn more about how AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers bring out our best as a nation.
