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AARP Awards Dinner
Best Employers for Workers Over
50
New York, New York
September 24, 2003
Introduction of Secretary Chao by Bill Novelli, CEO of
AARP
Welcome everyone to our third annual dinner honoring the Best Employers
for Workers Over 50. We have many distinguished guests with us this evening,
but I would like to begin by recognizing three of them: AARP President, Jim
Parkel, and our two Board members from the great state of New York, Clarence
Pearson and Chuck Leven.
You will see Jim a little later in the program, and tomorrow morning he
is hosting our forum, co-sponsored with Crain’s New York Business, where
we will present the results of our latest research on workforce issues,
Staying Ahead of the Curve 2003: The AARP Working in Retirement
Study.
Tonight I have the honor and the pleasure of introducing perhaps the
older workers’ best friend, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. When President
Bush nominated Secretary Chao-by the way, the first Asian-American woman
appointed to a President’s cabinet in history-he described her as an
individual with “strong executive talent, compassion, and commitment to
helping people build better lives.”
And, we are fortunate that Secretary Chao has put that talent,
compassion and commitment to work for older workers. Secretary Chao has been a
strong supporter of the Senior Community Service Employment Program, or SCSEP,
as it is known. SCSEP is a unique public/private partnership that helps train
and put older people back to work while meeting community needs at the same
time.
We are proud to note that AARP is the most successful national sponsor
of the SCSEP program, last year achieving a 57 percent placement rate putting
enrollees into unsubsidized employment-the highest for any national sponsor in
the history of the program.
Because of our success and Secretary Chao’s continued commitment
and confidence in our stewardship of this program, we were awarded a 50 percent
increase in funding for the new grant which started in July, and have
successfully transitioned 3600 new enrollees in 27 states and Puerto Rico onto
our program. Thank you, Secretary Chao, for your continued support of
SCSEP.
But it doesn’t stop there. Secretary Chao has made it easier for
job seekers to find work and get help by establishing 3,400 Department of Labor
One-Stop Resource Centers in communities nationwide. All of the federal social
agencies have representatives assigned to these centers so an individual can
come to a One-Stop Center and talk to any provider of service about his or her
needs whether they be Social Security, veterans benefits, food stamps, housing,
etc.
We work with the One-Stop Centers through our SCSEP program in those
communities where we have project sites, and they are, indeed, helping people
build better lives.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine
Chao.
Secretary Chao’s Remarks
Thank you, Bill! What a pleasure to be here for the second time in as
many years with Bill, Dawn Sweeney, Jim Parkel and Carol Lachnit, the editor of
Workforce magazine.
We’re here tonight to recognize 32 companies—that’s
seventeen more than last year—who are leading the way in
recognizing the value that older workers bring to the workforce.
Each of these companies has demonstrated a strong commitment to
recruiting, retaining, and promoting older workers.
This is a great time to talk about our most experienced workers. Not
only in celebration of National Employ Older Americans Week, but in recognition
of their tremendous contributions to our economy.
As many of you have heard, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported some very good news about seniors recently.
Workers age 55 to 64 have gained ground and today they hold more jobs than in early
2001.
And average wages for older workers have risen at a
faster rate than for
any only age group. And older
workers—particularly women—are receiving a disproportionate share of
salary increases on the job.
It doesn’t come as a surprise to many in this room that older
workers have done better than any other age group in this economy. It’s
proof of the fact that their reliability, their loyalty and the high level of
their skills are difficult to find and replace.
The gains older workers have made and their staying power in the
workforce are part of a profound demographic shift that is taking place in our
society.
Chief among these is an emerging skills gap and a huge Baby Boomer
generation that is poised for retirement but prefers to keep working.
Today, the oldest Baby Boomers are 57.
By 2011, the baby boomer generation will begin to turn 65.
By 2030, some projections show that as many as one in five Americans
will be 65 or older.
It’s not too early to prepare ourselves for this seismic shift.
Nowhere is the case stronger for tapping the skills of these older
workers than with employers facing the skills gap. In talking to employers, I
often hear that they are having difficulty finding workers with the right skill
sets for the jobs they have to offer.
This is especially true for healthcare. It is one of the fastest growing
sectors of our economy, in large part because of the aging Baby Boomer
generation.
One of the reasons why the employment outlook for seniors is so positive
is that many are entering the health care sector, where employers are hiring.
But even with this pool of talent, it is difficult to
understate the extent of
the looming shortage of health care workers with critical skills. According to
expert surveys, our country will need more than 1 million registered nurses
alone in the next 7 to 8 years.
I’m pleased to note that 9 of the 25 companies recognized tonight
are in health care, which underscores the opportunities available for senior
workers in this sector of the economy. By 2010, 40 percent of today’s
registered nurses will be 50 years or older. Their skills must not be allowed
to retire with them!
As Secretary of Labor, one of my top priorities is helping to close the
skills gap and provide training opportunities for every American who wants to
work.
This Administration has launched a high-growth job training initiative
to identify the areas of the economy where employers are hiring and train
workers with the skills needed to access these opportunities.
It is an economic fact of life today that while some sectors of the
economy are losing employment—most notably manufacturing—others are
gaining. We have found that in addition to health care there is strong demand
for workers in education, financial services, geospatial technology and the
retail service sector to name a few.
The Labor Department has partnered with private companies to create
scholarships and other opportunities to train health care workers. And we are
working to expand the capacity of the community college system to train workers
in this and other high growth sectors.
This Administration’s high growth job training initiative is part
of a larger effort to prepare our workforce for the challenges of the
21st century workforce.
The Labor Department is also developing public-private partnerships to
train workers, including older workers, for these emerging opportunities. Many
of you are ahead of the curve on this one. Home Depot is partnering with the
AARP to identify and train older workers for its workforce. And I want to
recognize the representatives from local workforce investment boards who are
here tonight and are working to encourage more partnerships like this one. This
is just one more example of forward-looking leadership that can lead to a
win-win situation for everyone: new opportunities for America’s seniors
and a pool of reliable, talented workers for employers.
We all recognize that while our economy is in a recovery, the pace is
not as strong we we’d like. That’s why the President has a 6-point
plan to strengthen the recovery.
It includes:
- Making health care costs more affordable and predictable, a key issue
for America’s seniors.
- Reducing the burden of junk lawsuits on our economy.
- Ensuring an affordable, reliable energy supply, which is important to
stabilizing prices across the board.
- Streamlining government regulations and reporting requirements to
free up entrepreneurial energy and create jobs.
- Opening up new markets for American products and services, and
- Enabling families and employers to plan for the future by making
temporary tax reductions permanent.
The President’s plan makes it clear that he will not be satisfied
until the benefits of the recovery reach everyone—that means every worker
in every age group.
In this respect, senior workers are role models for all age groups.
They demonstrate that the key to long-term workforce success is the same
for every generation. It is comprised of a strong work ethic, a commitment to
education—60% of Baby Boomers have a college degree or more—and the
ability to adapt to changing economic conditions.
That’s why I’m delighted to honor America’s older workers
tonight and to celebrate their remarkable contribution to strengthening our
nation’s economy. I salute all of tonight’s honorees for their
leadership and hope to be back again next year for another celebration of the
milestones of our most accomplished and productive workers.
Thank you.
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