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MATURE WORKERS
Many are choosing to extend careers

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Don't expect today's retirees to throw in the towel.

In a national telephone survey of 2,001 people between the ages of 50 and 70, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), reports that 85 percent of respondents said they have never retired from a job, and 15 percent said they remained in the labor force after retiring. Another 46 percent said they see themselves working well into their 70s.

''While research clearly identifies financial need as a primary reason that individuals are choosing to work longer, studies also show that the top motivation for working in retirement include not only the need for extra money but also a general desire to work for enjoyment, to have something interesting to do and to stay physically active,'' the report said.

In all, 17 percent of the country's work force will be made up of adults 55 and older by 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 13 percent in 2000. By 2050, such adults will account for 19 percent of the labor force. AARP reports the percentage of younger workers between 25 and 54 is expected to drop from 71 percent in 2000 to 67 percent in 2010.

The change will place new demands on employers, who will have to manage different generations in the workplace. Some companies are already doing that, according to AARP, which studied the benefits and programs offered at companies across the country. It also named 25 companies in 17 states as among the best employers for people over 50 to work for in 2003.

Two Massachusetts employers - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MITRE Corp. - were recognized by AARP for offering workers 50 and older opportunities for advancement, providing flexible work schedules, and maintaining benefits for current and retired employees.

MIT was selected because of its career counseling services, scholarships, and training opportunities for mature workers. The university also offers a gradual retirement plan, and a retirement transitions program that offers resources and courses to older workers. AARP said the MITRE Corp. was cited for emphasizing education and training and ''fostering an atmosphere of collaboration.'' The company also offers financial planning, and phased retirement. It also gives retirees the opportunity to work part-time. Under that program, retirees are placed on-call and asked to work when needed.

WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Schools, companies step up recruitment

Hoping to attract more women, a coalition of business schools and corporations last week urged about 200 female undergraduates to seriously consider business school during a forum at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston.

''We want women to understand that the degree is not their father's MBA,'' said Kate Klepper, dean of graduate admissions at Babson College.

Klepper's comment came during the first stop in an eight-city tour designed to drum up the number of female MBA applicants. The tour is sponsored by the Forte Foundation, a consortium of seven top companies, 13 business schools in the United States and London and two nonprofit organizations. In all, 30 percent of those enrolled in the country's best business schools are women, according to a joint study by the University of Michigan Business School and Catalyst, a New York research firm. By contrast, women account for 44 percent of the students enrolled in the most respected medical and law schools, the study said.

''Degrees from the nation's top business schools are increasingly lucrative,'' said the three-year-old study. ''According to data from BusinessWeek's most recent ranking of 20 top MBA programs, average first-year compensation for graduating MBA's is $131,295.''

Even so, young women are not that anxious to enter the business world, according to a 2002 study commissioned by the Simmons Graduate School of Management and the Committee of 200. The study of 3,028 teenage girls found that only 10 percent of the girls wanted to pursue a business career. Most shied away from business careers because of negative perceptions about such work and a desire for balanced personal lives, the study said. By contrast, 49 percent wanted to study medicine, law, or architecture because they believe those professionals can help others.

Klepper said the Forte Foundation's goal is to improve the image of the MBA degree by introducing young women to successful MBA graduates whose degrees have helped them achieve at public and private institutions. She said women MBAs tend to earn the same amount as men after graduation, if they remain in the workplace full time.

The Forte Forum at the Colonnade Hotel was co-sponsored by the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and the Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson in Wellesley. Among the companies with representatives at the event were Credit Suisse First Boston, Dell Computer, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young LLP; Goldman, Sachs & Co., JP Morgan Chase, Kraft Foods, and the Committee of 200, whose members include female corporate leaders and business owners.

Said Jeanne Wilt, executive director of the Forte Foundation, ''Our members understand the urgent need to stem the loss of female talent from business schools and the work force. That's why we have banded together to demonstrate more effectively to women that business careers can be intellectually challenging, financially useful, and beneficial.''

INCENTIVES
Firms explore ways to reward workers

Now that stock options have lost their allure, some companies are looking for other ways to compensate their top employees in a lackluster economy.

How to reward the best and the brightest was the focus of a recent gathering sponsored by the Massachusetts career management firm, Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire.

''Everybody is questioning the use of stock options as an employee incentive,'' said Laurence Stybel, cofounder of the firm. ''In the 1980s and 1990s, there was an expansion of the use of stock options as a recruitment tool and an incentive. This was during the dot-com boom. Now, we have a new world. The incentive no longer has the high perceived value that it had several years ago.''

What kinds of incentives are companies more likely to use these days? ''Large public companies are giving stock grants instead of stock options,'' said Stybel. ''These are outright shares. Options are getting less widespread attention. They are also giving out shares that cannot be exercised for three years or so. The other incentive: cash bonuses.''

Stybel said some companies are giving quarterly bonuses rather than annual ones so that there is a shorter gap between the work being rewarded and the actual payout. Another incentive: IOU's. Under the IOU plan, companies give good workers IOU's that are a percentage of current profits, a method of compensation that is similar to profit-sharing. The IOU can be cashed immediately or when the worker leaves the company, Stybel said.

DIANE E. LEWIS

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