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The 50 Best Employers For Older Workers

The 50 Best Employers For Older Workers

Vivian Giang

America's population is aging, yet they're still working past retirement age.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a federal agency based in Bethesda, Md., takes the top spot in a list of the best 50 employers for older workers published on Monday by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Jean Setzfand, AARP’s Vice President for Financial Security, says that employers should take advantage of Boomers' positive working traits, such as loyalty, by offering programs that will attract and retain them.

At NIH, workers are offered flexible telecommuting programs, a "Fit Plus Program," which is a health initiative aimed at older workers and two phased-retirement programs, which allow workers to choose to gradually transition to retirement by reducing hours or a trial-retirement program that allows retirees to return to work within one year of retiring in case they decide they aren't ready to leave the workforce.

“My boss lets me telework one week a month from my home,” 63-year-old Philip Lenowitz, deputy director in the office of human resources at the National Institutes of Health, tells Andrea Coombes at MarketWatch. "That’s one of the things that keeps me here rather than retiring."

Nearly half (47%) of NIH workers are older than the age of 50.

All of the companies in the top five spots are health-related organizations: Atlantic Health System of Morristown, New Jersey; the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and Mercy Health System of Janesville, WI.

A full 41% of this year's top employers for Boomers are hospitals, health insurers or medical research organizations.

“By the nature of their operations, hospitals and some other health care providers operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so it is a business necessity for them to offer flexible and compressed work schedules to their prospective and current employees," Setzfand says.

"These practices are appealing to older workers, and other industries should consider adopting them on a more widespread basis."

Any company based in the U.S. with at least 50 employees is eligible to apply for a spot on the list, which evaluates areas incluing recruiting practices; opportunities for training, education and career development; workplace accommodations; alternative work options, such as flexible scheduling, job sharing and phased retirement; employee health and retirement benefits, and retiree work opportunities.

Below is a list of the top companies:

1. National Institutes of Health (NIH)

2. Scripps Health

3. Atlantic Health System

4. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

5. Mercy Health System

6. The YMCA of Greater Rochester

7. West Virginia University

8. Bon Secours Virginia

9. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

10. WellStar Health System

11. Cornell University