Engelson, the human resources director, works full-time, six days a week. Although she’s hoping to cut down to five days, Engelson doesn’t intend to go part-time.
Philip Vincent straddles the line between part-time and full-time, depending on how busy he gets. That’s because the 72-year-old has an untraditional job: he’s an Uber driver in Washington.
After selling his small business three years ago and retiring, Vincent found he had too much downtime. Now he drives around in his new Lincoln MKS, and likes both the social interaction -- he says he’s met people from countless countries -- and the supplemental income. He is using some of his driving money to make car payments.
Although it’s hard to measure, alternative arrangements represent an expansion of work opportunities for senior citizens. The gig economy "provides people a lot of flexibility in hours, location, in the range of work they do," said Debra Whitman, chief public policy officer at the American Association of Retired Persons. That pairs well with an older worker’s needs.
For Vincent, his reason for working is simple: "Everybody is different. I know people that are retired and they like to lay around, I can’t do that."