It's back to school for older workers
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As a result of concerns about Oregon's shrinking skilled labor pool, Portland Community College in Portland, Ore., began taking a closer look at its role in aging-work force development about a year and a half ago, says Jan Abushakrah, PCC gerontology program director.

"We started by focusing on older students who were showing up in the credit side of the college," she says. "We conducted an online survey of all students 40 and older. About 75 percent said they are taking classes not only for personal enrichment but to get a job or re-skill so they could stay in their current jobs or re-career. This was an eye-opener. It got us thinking about how we can meet their needs."

Help getting jobs
One very strong message PCC administrators got from the survey, Abushakrah says, was that older students wanted help getting into the work force.

"Most don't plan full traditional retirement," she says. "Some who are facing age discrimination or company downsizing need to get into a new field. Others need to get the skills and training necessary to stay in their current field. That's what we are trying to address -- to enable them to be employable and help them to get into work."

The college's Workplace Training Unit teams up with employers, Abushakrah says, to help them retain, retrain or recruit older workers and "focus on how businesses in the 21st century can take advantage of and thrive in an intergenerational work environment. They are looking to work with the public sector, private sector and nonprofits to create more meaningful opportunities for older workers, and also to help them use their skills and knowledge wisely for the benefit of the company."

Help with computer skills
Through an Encore Career Grant from CivicVentures.org, PCC is building a peer-mentor program within its gerontology department that will help older students develop the computer skills needed to take online courses. "Students 40 and older are disproportionately represented in distance-learning classes," Abushakrah says.

She adds that the gerontology department's new age-specialist certifications in such areas as fitness, nursing and even interior design combined with a second specialization in aging, or gerontology, attract many of the boomer generation.

"About 35 (percent) to 40 percent are 50 or older, and a number of them are starting their own businesses as personal trainers and consultants."

Grand Rapids Community College has a thriving adult job-training program, but it became apparent that the needs of older workers within the college's work force development system were not being met, says George Waite, director of the Tassell Michigan Technical Education Center. To address the situation, Project Mature Worker was recently developed with grant money from the Grand Rapids Community Foundation.

Help with financial aid
"We found that a lot of older adults did not understand the system or how to get financial aid," Waite says. "We also found that they didn't have a source to help them go through those hoops. Project Mature Worker was put together to fill that gap. We help them enroll, get training and go to work."

Among options available for adults aged 30 to 60 years old at GRCC are accelerated, hands-on job-training programs that in some cases lead to professional credentials, with a job-placement component at the end, Waite says. The college holds expos inviting people 55 and older in the community to learn about the kinds of training available at GRCC or other local learning institutions and how to take advantage of them.