Mature workers check out employment prospects: One Meridian employer said it's not uncommon to see people at age 57 step into their third career.

Oct 05, 2008 (The Idaho Statesman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- SKO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Alex Zarybnicky has worked in nursing for 43 years. He's getting ready to retire and attended the Mature Workers Job Fair in Meridian on Saturday.

After retirement, he wants to find a job to stay active in the community and keep his mind sharp, though whatever he finds will have to go easy on his back, he said. Four decades of lifting patients have taken their toll.

Zarybnicky also is interested in the money that part-time employment would bring. After he retires, he'll be able to get health insurance through his wife Rosie's job, but that will cost extra, and, like many people across the socio-economic spectrum, the Zarybnickys are feeling less than secure about the future of their retirement funds.

A number of agencies, including the Idaho Department of Labor, the Idaho Commission on Aging and AARP Idaho, sponsored Saturday's fair, which included employers' booths, benefits advisers and workshops on interview skills and resume writing, among other topics, for those who may not have experienced applying for a job for decades.

Georgia Smith from the Idaho Department of Labor said that more than 1,000 people came to the fair, 500 of them in the first hour. Twenty-seven businesses set up booths, from Bogus Basin to Shopko taking applications for seasonal employment, to the Meridian School District looking for full-time bus drivers.

Tim Leigh, also from the Department of Labor, said that holding the fair was important because of work force layoffs, but also because of the large number of older Idahoans caring for younger relatives.

Idaho's population of grandparents raising grandchildren increased by 78.9 percent from 1990 to 2000, the third-largest increase in the United States.

Edwin Redfern, a national program consultant for the AARP who attended Saturday's event, said people between the ages of 55 and 62 who are out of work can find themselves in an especially difficult limbo, too early for Social Security eligibility (age 62), too young to draw on 401(k) accounts without penalties (age 59 and a half), while possibly supporting children and aging parents simultaneously.

"Some people want to go back to work. Others need to," said Melinda Adams, older worker coordinator for the Idaho Commission on Aging.

When older workers are laid off, it's often difficult for them to find another job that offers equivalent pay and benefits.

Lower pay can mean that a family that was once supported by one wage earner now needs two to stay afloat. Many of Adams' clients are women who have been out of the work force for many years, or who have never worked outside the home, but have to because of family finances.

A challenge is educating such women to realize they have skills employers value.

"Older workers tend to be loyal, conscientious, dependable," Adams said. "They're a good bet for employers."

"We want the upper end, the workers with 30 or 35 years of experience," Lenny Sosa said.

He quickly ran out of his supply of applications for Meridian school bus drivers.

"It's not uncommon for us to have people who at age 57 are stepping into their third career," he said.

Anna Webb: 377-6431

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