KANSAS CITY, Mo. Nearly one in five small businesses say their workers are staying on the job past age 65.
And about one in three of the businesses responding to a survey released Thursday said their older employees were still working because they could not afford to retire.
The survey by the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations was designed to see how small businesses were preparing for baby boomer retirements.
Even if employee departures are not quite as rapid as once feared, businesses are preparing for a brain drain when the great mass of boomers reaches what's traditionally been considered "retirement age."
The full survey report, "Older and Wiser: As the Work Force Ages, Small Businesses Change, Too," can be read at www.napeo.org .
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Most of the businesses responding to the survey had fewer than 50 employees. The loss of even one experienced worker can have a big effect.
About half of the 400 small-business operators surveyed said they did not know whether they were going to lose workers to early retirement, but 40 percent said they did not expect an early exodus.
The survey found that small businesses were not doing much to retain older workers. Retention ideas such as phased retirement or flexible or part-time jobs have not taken hold.
The survey sponsors suggested that employers pay attention to a bill in Congress, the Older Worker Opportunity Act, S. 1826, which would provide a tax credit to businesses that offer flexible or part-time work for older workers, while protecting their pension and health benefits.
