Courtesy / Southern Maine Jobs Collaborative
Mainejobs.theboomerinstitute.com is a website that aims to connect older Mainers with job opportunities across the state.
Updated: August 9, 2021
Maine job site for baby boomers, retirees off to running start
A Maine website launched in June to connect baby boomers and retired Mainers with job openings statewide has had a busy start, much to the surprise of the business coalition behind the initiative.
The site, mainejobs.theboomerinstitute.com, is a free job matching service that aims to help solve Maine's talent shortage by helping people age 50 and older find purposeful work.
Users can create a profile for free and browse open positions; users who express an interest in a job are contacted by the employer.
The site was set up by a business coalition called the Southern Maine Jobs Collective, whose members are Heart at Work Associates, of Portland, Portland Buy Local, Portland Downtown, Local Economy Payroll and Collective Commitments.
As of last Friday, the site had gotten 973 page views, with 73 boomers positing profiles so far and 24 jobs currently listed with 27 employers. Both the amount of traffic, and variety of jobs listed, is more than organizers expected.
"One thing that has surprised me the most is the diversity of the positions listed," Barbara Babkirk, founder and owner of Heart At Work Associates, told Mainebiz.
In addition to some hospitality and nursing jobs, for example, the site has out-of-the-ordinary listings like fly-tying for a fly-fishing company, and a captain and crew for a Boothbay sailing vessel, she noted, adding, "That was a big surprise for me."
The initiative was spurred in part by Maine's demographic reality. Noting that 30% of Maine's population is over 50 and the retirement age is now well beyond 65, Babkirk cited Merrill Lynch research showing that four out of five people who retire from the workforce return in some capacity within 18 months.
In many cases, Babkirk says, the return to work is prompted by boredom, though in the past often thwarted by unconscious bias against hiring older individuals on the part of some employers.
"Now they need anyone they can get," she says.
Latest data
In June, the Maine unemployment rate was 4.8% for the fifth consecutive month, and down from 5.3% a year earlier, the Maine Department of Labor reported on July 16. That compares to a 5.9% U.S. rate and 5.4% for New England.
Maine also reported 3.9% fewer jobs in June than in February 2020, before the pandemic impacted the labor market. In terms of sectors, jobs were down the most in leisure and hospitality, public and private education (K-12 and higher education) and health care and social assistance.
The Department of Labor is due to release data for July on Aug. 20.
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Anonymous
September 3, 2021
Is this available for the Bangor region as well?
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