2020
What's Next with Diana Pierce, 11/14/2020: 50+ and Recareering? Check out UMAC
"Are you rethinking of retirement? The University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative has a program to help you figure out your What's Next!"
Retirement Wisdom Podcast, 11/12/2020: How to Build a Portfolio Career - Kate Schaefers
"What second career ideas are you considering? The best second career jobs aren’t often posted on job sites – you create them. One approach is to build a portfolio career, consisting of several activities that leverage your skills, experience, and interests. Our guest, Kate Schaefers, shares her story of how she created a portfolio career – and her observations on how Baby Boomers and organizations are evolving."
AARP, 6/9/2020: 5 Reasons Working From Home Benefits Older Workers — and Their Employers
"Over the next several months, every company in America with workers who spend most of their time on a computer has a decision to make: Which of their employees — the vast majority of whom will have been successfully working from home since March — should return to the office? And when? The answers to those questions will almost certainly prove to be a huge boon for millions of older employees in the months and years to come."
WPR, 5/12/2020: How Will Coronavirus Change Americans' Attitudes Toward Work?
"For many employees and employers, things like working from home, four-day work weeks, six-hour work days seemed implausible or out of reach prior to the pandemic. But after the big shift in work style, will a more flexible work schedules be normalized when things resume in full? We talk with a professor about what she sees as flaws in modern work culture and what shift, if any, we might see in the future."
New York Times, 4/10/2020: Could the Pandemic Wind Up Fixing What’s Broken About Work in America?
"Crises like pandemics, economic collapses and world wars have, at times throughout history, ended up reordering societies — shrinking the gap between the rich and the poor, or empowering the working class. The Black Death helped end feudalism. The Great Depression helped lead to the New Deal. Never has extreme economic inequality shrunk in a meaningful way, says the Stanford historian Walter Scheidel, without a major crisis."
Dialogue Minnesota, 4/6/2020: COVID-19 Is Redefining Our Concept of Work
"The COVID-19 crisis has dramatically changed the way that we perform our jobs. With shelter-in-place orders and social distancing guidelines in effect, many of those who have the option to work from home are doing so. While some companies have previously offered work-from-home opportunities to their employees, the current emergency has dramatically increased the numbers of remote workers."
Fox 9 KMSP, 3/20/2020: How to avoid the biggest pitfalls of working from home
"The coronavirus is forcing a new trend in the workplace... or more like... out of the workplace. It can be tricky to make working from home work for you. Phyllis Moen, a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, is an expert on workplaces - she gave us some tips on the pitfalls to avoid while working at home."
MPR, 3/13/2020: What’s happening to how we work?
"Paid sick leave dominates conversations on Capitol Hill and in our workplaces as the new coronavirus continues to spread. However, paid sick leave is far from a given. About 30 percent of private company employees don’t have paid sick days, setting them up to potentially choose between income and health."
Forbes, 1/13/2020: College Programs For Encore Careers Are Bubbling Up.
"Meg Meyers agrees with Schenher’s sentiment. She is enrolled in the University of Minnesota’s Advanced Career Initiative. Meyers was a maternal-child nurse for 15 years after earning her Bachelor in Nursing from the University of Minnesota. The following 25 years, she worked alongside her husband in residential sales at Edina Realty in the Twin Cities. When her husband started thinking about retirement, Meyers wondered what she might do next. Real estate wasn’t her first passion."
2019
MPR News, 11/27/2019: The generational divide at work
"Today’s workforce spans five generations — from the Silent or Greatest Generation, in their 70s and 80s, to Gen Z, just entering their 20s — for the first time in history. And the way each generation views basic workplace values differs greatly."
Fortune, 11/24/2019: Microsoft Proved a Four-Day Workweek Improved Productivity in Japan. Can Its Results Translate ...
"Phillis Moen, Founding Director, University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative, and the co-author of Overload says that U.S. professionals and managers already work more than five days and 40 hours per week, and 'always-on accessibility made possible by new communication technologies' hasn't helped. 'The strains contemporary American workers experience cannot be relieved by reducing days in the office if workloads and accessibility are not also modulated,' she says."
Next Avenue, 11/9/2019: Job Hunting After 50: The Power of Creativity and Persistence
"That’s what Michele Eggenberger did. Her “yes, and” approach started after becoming a fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Advanced Career Initiative year in 2017. That program offers a “gap year” for experienced workers to transition from one career into one with a focus on purpose. Eggenberger had been a three-decade construction industry veteran. The last seven years of her career, she gave talks on sustainability at industry conferences in the Midwest. In her mid-50s, when her architectural firm wanted Eggenberger to expand her geographic territory, she decided it was time for a change."
KFAI, 10/29/2019: Conversations with Al McFarlane
UMAC Exectuve Director Kate Schaefers, Steve Jewell, and MPR economics expert Chris Farrell discuss ageism in the workplace with Al McFarlane of KFAI Radio.
MPR News, 10/11/2019: How to combat ageism in the workplace
"Age discrimination is a growing concern as more Minnesotans work past the age of 65.
Why are older workers are forced out and why do younger workers feel they aren’t taken seriously?"
MPR News, 7/12/2019: Older Workers Aren’t Hurting the Economy, They’re Stimulating it
"The association of getting older with decline runs deep. To carry on with work — or anything more demanding than an afternoon lecture, a movie and an early dinner — during the traditional retirement years seems cute at best and depressing at worst."
WCCO Television, 7/8/2019: When do Americans Retire?
"A new AP survey finds almost a quarter of Americans say they’ll never retire.
For some, that’s by choice. For others, it’s an economic necessity. For many, however, working until the end is not a truly realistic option.
So, when do Americans retire? And why? Good Question.
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), Americans expect to retire at age 65 but end up actually doing so at age 62."
Kiplinger, 7/1/2019: 6 Steps to Finding Your Second Act in Retirement
"After a decades-long Wall Street career, Russell Abbott was ready for a change. He had worked as a hedge fund manager and a director in the fixed income department at Credit Suisse, and the long hours and high intensity took a toll. “You start to age out of financial services,” says Abbott, 67. His two children were grown and he was in a financial position to retire, but he wasn’t ready to step out of the working world for good. He just hadn’t figured out what might come next.
Recent UMAC fellow Lisa Mattson, 55, of St. Paul, Minn., ran the business operations of a medical research company for 22 years. As she closed in on retirement, she felt there was more she wanted to do before she stopped working entirely."
Dialogue Minnesota, 5/28/19: "Encore Adulthood" and the University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative, Part 2
"An increasing number of Baby Boomers are approaching traditional retirement age but have no intention of segueing to a life of leisure. A University of Minnesota program offers experienced professionals an opportunity to transition to a so-called “encore career”, often at a community-based non-profit."
White Bear Press, 5/30/19: Encore careers make social impact
"Northeast metro adults are among those finding their path to encore careers in the University of Minnesota's new Advanced Careers Initiative (UMAC) led by Shoreview resident Kate Schaefers.
UMAC is like a gap year for adults retiring from longtime careers or transitioning to new ones, explained Schaefers. The focus is on finding a pathway to social impact by using professional skills, whether paid or volunteer. Fellows participate as mentors in undergraduate classes and do a “midternship” (midlife internship focused on using professional skills) with a nonprofit. This school year was the first year of the full-fledged program. There were 16 fellows who graduated May 15."
Dialogue Minnesota, 5/28/19: "Encore Adulthood" and the University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative, Part 1
"An increasing number of Baby Boomers are approaching traditional retirement age but have no intention of segueing to a life of leisure. A University of Minnesota program offers experienced professionals an opportunity to transition to a so-called “encore career”, often at a community-based non-profit."
Sun Sailor, 4/16/2019: Late-career professionals, seeking guidance, head back to school
"Retirement can be daunting, but a new University of Minnesota fellowship program offers guidance on transitioning to the next stage of life.
All applicants have at least two things in common: uncertainty about how to spend their retirement and desire for a second act.”
Kare 11, 4/15/2019: Staying connected to younger generations key to living longer for aging adults
"Dr. Kate Schaefers, from the University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative, says 'encore adults,' those 50 years old and older, can benefit greatly from connecting to youth."
Kare 11, 2/26/19: Sandwich Generation: Baby Boomers Transition from Career Jobs to Meaningful Engagement
"Many Minnesotans in the Sandwich Generation are in the midst of wrapping up their careers.
But, not all are looking for a traditional retirement. Instead, people over 50 are starting businesses, re-careering and moving into the nonprofit sector as volunteer leaders and even as employees."
Forbes, 2/25/19: When Older Students and Younger Students Teach Each Other
"Sheila Peyraud, a newly retired tech executive, saw herself as savvy when she returned to campus last fall. Then the University of Minnesota Advanced Careers (UMAC) fellow came face-to-face with all she doesn’t know in the class What American Dream? Children of the Social Class Divide. Listening to undergraduates’ experiences changed her thinking about poverty and inequality. 'This class opened my eyes. I learned how uneven the playing field is, and it is getting worse,' said Peyraud."
Star Tribune, 2/16/19: New Post-Retirement Job: Making the World a Better Place
"Retirement experts often recommend working longer as a way to make savings outlive the saver, but it isn’t always easy.
Burnout, age discrimination, health issues and new technologies that eliminate jobs or make veteran workers’ skills outdated conspire against those who try.
There is a growing wave of hope, however, that saving the world — or at least taking a shot at making it a better place — may be the answer."
2018
MPR News with Keri Miller, 9/24/18: Older workers need jobs, too
"The unemployment rate for Americans over the age of 55 is lower than the national unemployment rate, but not all work in their desired fields.
Companies such as Macy's, FedEx, and Target sent out requests for seasonal and temporary workers to address a shortage of staffing during the holidays. These jobs attract employees over the age of 55 and retirees, but are they only jobs available for older workers?"
Legacy Magazine, Summer 2018: Third act: How a U of M Professor is Helping Baby Boomers Reimagine their Lives.
"Nancy Kelly spent 25 years working in employment law and raising four children in St. Paul. With her kids now grown, she started contemplating what might come next. Then someone sent her an article from Forbes magazine about the University of Minnesota Advanced Careers (UMAC) initiative, and 'it immediately struck a chord with me,' she says. 'I wasn’t getting anywhere on my own, so I thought a program like this would help me determine my next step.' And it did."
2017
Wall Street Journal, 12/28/17: Baby Boomers Looking for Reinvention Try College - Again
"Pat Collins has worked as a therapist for 30 years and is looking to reinvent herself. So she has gone back to the place where she invented herself the first time—college.
'I’m not sure what I want to do next,' said Mrs. Collins, 66 years old. 'I’m able to retire financially. But I’m not ready to stop working.'
Mrs. Collins is a fellow at..."
Star Tribune, 9/30/17: U program helps baby boomers find, develop an encore career
"It’s among the most persistent questions to dog workers at or near retirement: What comes next? Phyllis Moen wants to help. The University of Minnesota sociology professor believes too few baby boomers interested in an encore career know how to answer that question. At the same time, too few businesses and communities know how to take advantage of their skills and experience. This fall, Moen, author of the 2016 book “Encore Adulthood: Boomers on the Edge of Risk, Renewal and Purpose,' launched a program for those 50 and older to try to bridge that divide."
Minnesota Daily, 9/21/17: University offers new program for baby boomers
"A new University of Minnesota program aims to bring baby boomers back to school.
In its inaugural year, the University’s Advanced Careers program allows ten fellows aged 55 and up to take classes at the University this semester and participate in an internship this spring. Organizers say the program’s focus is to help baby boomers interested in nonprofit work transition to careers."
The program is less focused on teaching participants new skills, but rather on helping fellows use their skills in new ways as volunteers or nonprofit employees, said program organizer Kate Schaefers.
Minnesota Business, 7/25/17 : A new chapter for boomers
"It’s never too late to change course.
That’s the thinking behind the University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative (UMAC), a new program for restless Boomer professionals who aren’t quite ready to hang up their hats for good.
'While Americans are living longer, their work and life course has not changed - first there is education, then a lifetime of full-time work, culminating with retirement,' said Brad Robideau, University of Minnesota national media relations consultant, in a statement."
Pioneer Press, 7/24/17: Old school: New UMN program brings baby boomers back to class
"Approaching the end of a long career in employment law, 60-year-old Corrie Lapinsky is eager to transition to something more personally meaningful.
'I’ve never really thought of retirement as the previous generation did: Retire and go play,' she said.
For several years, she has kicked around different ideas, from starting a business with a friend to finding a role with a nonprofit. But identifying the next phase of her work life has proved elusive."
Forbes, 7/17/17: The new college program to launch encore careers
If you’re recently retired or will be soon and want to redeploy your talents for the common good during your second act, I think you may want to consider applying to the new University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative (UMAC). It’s a unique, innovative, yearlong program in Minneapolis that’s designed to help adults 55+ launch encore careers.
Applications are being accepted online through August 15th, 2017 to select the inaugural group of 10 participants (known as fellows). The program kicks off September 5, so if you’re interested, now’s the time to act.