Marketing Review — Summer 2008 - (Page 32) TREND #25 Specialization continues to spread throughout industry and the professions. True retirement, a permanent end to work, will be delayed until very late in life. By 2015, we expect the average retirement age in the United States to be delayed well into the 70s. Benefits may also continue their decline, and they will be given based on need, rather than as an entitlement. Even though the Social Security program has been the “third rail” of American politics, within five years, the retirement age will be moved back at least to 70 for early retirement and full benefits at 72. Retirees will act as technical aides to teachers, especially in the sciences. In the long run, it may prove impossible to maintain the tradition of retirement, except through personal savings and investment. IMPLICATIONS FOR HOSPITALITY AND TRAVEL: Divide seniors into three groups: • Those who can afford to do so are likely to retire early. They will spend much of their time traveling, eating out, and otherwise enjoying life. They will be a prime source of business for high-end hotels, resorts, and cruise lines. • Those who are not quite so well-to-do but still can retire on time also will travel regularly but are likely to economize on accommodations, generally taking a trip to Orlando, rather than Paris, or a relatively brief Caribbean cruise, rather than a round-the-world trip. 32 27 • There will be many as well who really cannot afford to retire completely. These 0lder workers will partially make up for any future shortages of entry-level employees. The chance to remain in the workplace will reduce the risk of poverty for many elderly people who otherwise would have had to depend on Social Security to get by. 27) Second and third careers are becoming common, as more people make mid-life changes in occupation. Americans born at the tail end of the Baby Boom (1956 to 1964) held an average of ten jobs between ages 18 and 38, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These job jumpers continue with short-duration jobs even as they approach middle age: 70 percent of the jobs they took between ages 33 and 39 ended within five years. In the United States, 23 percent of workers surveyed in 2004 reported being dissatisfied with their careers and considering a change of occupation. Seventy percent of Irish workers surveyed in 2004 also said they hoped to make a career change soon. Women 55 TRENDS FOR TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY • SUMMER 2008 SB10069454AF-001/THOMAS NORTHCUT/GETTY IMAGES
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