Atlanta, GA, Feb. 6--In one of the broadest efforts so far to link the nation's aging workforce with available jobs, AARP and Home Depot Inc. are forming a national hiring partnership, Friday's Wall Street Journal reported.
Under the agreement, AARP will recruit and train workers aged 55 and over to help fill jobs in Home Depot's 1,700 home-improvement stores across the country.
Many retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., have turned to retirees in an ad hoc way as greeters, baggers and cashiers. But the pact between AARP and Home Depot is the first attempt to target thousands of older workers in the U.S.
Home Depot has about 300,000 employees. It plans to add 35,000 jobs this year, in addition to the 100,000 new workers it expects to need to make up for attrition and promotions.
Neither Home Depot nor AARP would estimate how many hires might result from the new partnership. But Home Depot executives said they hope to find workers of all stripes--with skills in plumbing, landscaping, design and customer service, among others--who can fill full-time and part-time jobs that offer health and dental benefits. Wages will range from $7 to $20 an hour, depending on the skill level required.
Increasing numbers of Americans are considering working in retirement to make up for stock-market losses or inadequate planning. The labor force participation rate for people 50 and older climbed nearly seven percentage points in the past decade, hitting 46% in 2003, according to a new AARP study. A new MetLife Inc. survey found that 48% of U.S. workers believe they will have to take on part-time or full-time work to maintain their financial stability in retirement.
