GRAND FORKS — For LeAnn Rindt, the best part of her work at the Quilter’s JEM in East Grand Forks is “the people,” she said without hesitation.
“People who come to quilt shops don’t come into the shop when they’re crabby,” Rindt said. “I really do enjoy the people who come in, and the people I work with, too.”
Rindt, who found part-time work at the Quilter’s JEM after retiring as a high school teacher, is happy to be back in the workforce, she said, because this job suits her lifestyle and her interests.
“And, it’s nice that it’s flexible,” said Rindt, who loves to travel and attend weeklong quilters’ retreats.
The same could be said for her co-workers, Bev Solseng and Alana Rustad, also avid quilters who have found enjoyable work at the Quilter’s JEM in retirement.
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Solseng, who worked nearly three decades as a secretary at the University of North Dakota, has been quilting for many years. Rustad, a retired teacher, got interested in quilting in retirement, after taking a class, and eventually was recruited to work at the shop.
“It gets me out of the house,” she said. “I could easily become a hermit.”
She has found her niche as the store’s designer, designing and creating packaging, with instructions, for her own quilt pattern projects.
“I’m artsy,” Rustad said. “I like to be out doing something creative.”
Labor force needs
These women represent a demographic -- people 65 and older -- that, percentage-wise, is much smaller than the next-younger age group, 60-64, in terms of labor force participation. But more and more, employers are realizing how much they need them, said Dustin Hillebrand, manager of North Dakota Job Service here.
The last few years have seen a marked decrease in the percentage of people ages 65-4, compared to the 60-64 age group, who are in the state’s workforce -- and that’s not good for the economy, Hillebrand said.
According to the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022 -- the latest year figures are available -- in North Dakota, the labor participation rate in the age category 65-74 was estimated at 31.9%. Total workers in that category numbered 75,806.
In 2022, those in the 60-64 age group comprised 64.5% of the labor force. Total workers in that category amounted to 47,320.
“That huge drop-off, from 64.5% to nearly 32%, is a significant amount,” Hillebrand said. The decrease may represent, for example, people who are simply bored with work; not feeling safe in the work setting, possibly due to the pandemic; or have other reasons to leave the workforce.
The figures in this survey constitute full- and part-time workers, he said.
The “significant drop in that 65-74 age group” is worrisome for the state’s economy, Hillebrand said, because “we already have very low unemployment numbers in the state. Anytime when people leave the workforce, it makes an impact on the economy.
“There is a need out there,” he said, noting that it’s particularly acute in health care, the retail sector and teaching fields.
In January, the unemployment rate was 2.5% in North Dakota, compared to 3.7% nationwide, Hillebrand said. In December, the unemployment rate was 1.7% for North Dakota, compared to 3.5% nationwide. A large percentage, nearly 80%, of the unemployed who are receiving continued claims are “job-attached,” meaning they are on “some kind of seasonal layoff,” and expect to return to their jobs, he said.
So, why have workers left the workforce at age 65 or older?
Some have left because “their retirement accounts are sitting pretty good -- especially with the way the stock market has grown over the last three years -- (and) they don’t have to go back to work, because they, hopefully, are able to live off their retirement accounts,” Hillebrand said.
“Also, some doubt their abilities to be in the workforce,” he said. And some people simply want to leave the workforce and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Those are the kind of things that have taken them out of the workforce.”
But people in that 65-74 age group have a lot to offer employers, Hillebrand said.
“To me, you’ve got folks who’ve got lots of years of experience with whatever they’re doing. And they’re still very very valuable to their occupations that they’ve been in, whatever career path they’ve been in, and to the economy as a whole.”
‘False narrative’
An inaccurate but persistent notion may be keeping people from seeking work after retiring, Hillebrand said.
“There’s a false narrative out there that companies aren’t willing to hire individuals over a certain age,” he said.
These days, “I think employers are understanding that there’s an opportunity for folks that have retired from one career path to possibly enter a different career path,” he said.
At recent North Dakota Job Service-sponsored job fairs, he’s been encouraged to find that more older people are seeking employment “because they’re bored or they’re looking for a few hours a day (to work) to make their day a little bit more full and put a little spending money in their pocketbook.”
In his work with Job Service, Hillebrand has also observed the trend of retirees “changing career paths. They go out and find something they really enjoy doing,” he said.
And many employers are willing to look at providing some part-time opportunities.
The employee roster at Quilter’s JEM is one such example.
Kim Dietrich, the store’s owner, said all but one of her 10 employees are retired.
Dietrich said, “I think these ladies are drawn here because we’re flexible -- a lot of them travel” and want to be able to go on cruises and quilters’ retreats.
“And, you know, as you get older you have appointments” to keep, Dietrich said.
“Retired people have so much experience,” she added, and experience comes with age.
“You can’t just walk into a place like this and work; you have to know something about quilting.”
Dietrich also makes it a point to match the work with the employee’s interests, she said. “I let them do things they like to do. For example, Bev likes working in the back, cutting fabrics, and LeAnn is great with customers.”
COVID impact
In the last few years, the pandemic has had an impact on labor force participation, Hillebrand said.
In 2020, as COVID began to grip the nation, it contributed to the decision by millions of workers to exit the workforce, he said. “In 2020, nationwide, 4.3 million people retired,” about twice the usual amount.
Hillebrand can’t say with certainty that COVID caused the exodus, but “anecdotally, I’ve definitely heard people say that it was a good time to leave the workforce,” he said, “whether because of health concerns or possibly their company was going to be shut down to figure things out.”
Since then, North Dakota has seen several areas where workforce shortages stand out.
“We’ve seen an increase in the need for workers in the health care field,” Hillebrand said. The retail sector is another area where workers have left the market.
“Honestly, when you have people that leave any of their career paths, it leaves a knowledge gap … ” he said, noting especially education, where younger teachers are replacing retirees with many years of knowledge and experience in the classroom.
“Anytime we lose those folks, it’s detrimental to their industry.”