There is a definite yet gradual shift among employers with regard to older workers, and it is to accommodate the notion of gradual retirement. The Wharton School addresses the subject in an excellent article entitled "The Case for Phased Retirement." According to the article, phased retirement, bridge jobs, "un-retirement," and retirees who go on to second or even third careers are concepts that are increasingly popular with Boomers, and employers are starting to take notice.

One employer, the Federal government, is gradually introducing the idea of phased retirement across its many agencies. One of the reasons is practical: A third of the U.S. government workforce will be eligible for retirement by September 2017.

Wharton reports:

"Under prior law, workers who were eligible for retirement but wanted to continue part-time had little economic incentive to do so, since retirement benefits would often be equal to or greater than their salary would be for part-time employment, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The government’s phased retirement program, whose regulations were approved in 2014, allows workers to retire from part of their employment while continuing in another part of the job and continuing to earn additional retirement benefits proportionate to the new level of employment. In exchange, some workers are required to spend 20% of their time mentoring new generations of workers."

Unfortunately, that model hasn't yet been embraced by most companies. A recent survey indicated that only ten percent or less of companies offered any kind of informal or formal phased retirement programs. It's not as if Boomers don't want the programs. According to Wharton, "Various surveys of older workers show that between 60% and 80% would be interested in staying in the workforce on a more limited schedule beyond formal retirement.The advantages for employers are manifold: transfer of skills and institutional knowledge to younger workers, the ability to replace workers with less pressure to find the right candidate immediately and lower turnover costs. "

The bottom line is that Boomers have to make their needs known to employers and potential employers, and organizations who employ Boomers have to recognize that the rewards of gradual retirement go both ways. Some companies will be more progressive than others when it comes to phased retirement programs. Wharton professor Olivia S. Mitchell sees it this way: “Evidence seems to show most employers don’t offer phased retirement because they haven’t been forced to do it yet.”