- Korn/Ferry International

Although the demand for talent continues to escalate as millions of Baby Boomers attain retirement age, a growing number of these professionals are "re-careering, or changing professions mid to late in their careers, according to more than 270 international recruiters who completed the 11th edition of the quarterly Executive Recruiter Index, released by Korn/Ferry International. <br /><br />Nearly six in 10 recruiters (58 percent) reported seeing a rise in the number of executives who are changing professions when faced with the prospect of impending retirement. In comparing the number of job opportunities available today to re-careering executives versus a decade ago, a vast majority of recruiters (84 percent) indicated there are at least the same number, if not more, of such opportunities.<br /><br />Leading reasons for executives to re-career, according to recruiters, are boredom with retirement (22 percent), a sense of productivity (21 percent) and intellectual challenge (20 percent). Other motivators include insufficient retirement savings (13 percent) and the need for personal interaction with others (13 percent). <br /><br />"Increasingly, retirement no longer marks the end of an executive's desire or ability to be an active contributor in the business community, said Joe Griesedieck, vice chairman of Korn/Ferry International. "Re-careering executives are finding and seizing the opportunity later in their careers to change course, be it through entrepreneurship, consulting, volunteering or some combination of pursuits. While this won't cure the impending talent crunch, it will provide more opportunity for younger executives to learn from Baby Boomers before they retire completely. <br /><br />When asked to identify which types of re-careering executives are pursuing, the largest percentage of recruiters (80 percent) cited consulting projects, followed by starting a business (66 percent), working as a freelancer (56 percent) and taking temporary assignments (49 percent). Personal interests, including volunteer work and pursuing a hobby, ranked lower.<br /><br />Methodology<br />The Executive Recruiter Index is based on a quarterly survey of 273 Korn/Ferry International consultants, who serve the world's largest corporations and not-for-profit organizations. This survey was conducted online within the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa from January 9-22, 2007.