"un-retiring" is the latest trend of the post-pandemic era

Millions of Americans who were closer to the retirement age stopped working during the pandemic, resorting to early retirement. This was a matter of concern to many who thought that the pandemic has altered the workforce permanently. However, new data shows that the country is close to securing this gap, let's see how.

According to recent Labour Department data, almost 1.5 million retirees have reentered the US labor market since last year, this means that the economy has made up for the loss of workforce due to early retirees since February 2020. So why did these people decide to return to work?

Evidence suggests that relaxed concerns regarding the virus, availability of vaccines, and more flexible work arrangements at a time when employers are desperate for workers to have aided this decision. For others, it is the rising costs in light of inflation and the inability to keep up while on a fixed income. Let's take the example of Jerry Munoz who recently returned to his full-time job at a pharmaceutical company in San Diego after almost a decade of retirement. He said he'd gotten antsy staying at home at felt safer going to work after receiving the vaccine. "Covid made me think about a lot of things and I felt like I was wasting my skills and knowledge," said the 64-year-old, "I told my wife that as long as I'm, healthy enough, I'll probably work for another two years."

Source: Washington Post