The senior citizen can harness his professional experience (Photo: ShutterStock)
In recent years, two major changes have taken place in the global labor market - one is a multiplicity of careers and the other is a desire for occupational flexibility that will allow a combination of leisure and personal development with employment.
For many retired senior citizens, work gives meaning and also allows them to increase their income and enjoy a high standard of living.
At the same time, the retired worker no longer wants to be a slave to work and work full-time in an abrasive job.
He is interested in a flexible format suitable for the new period of life that combines leisure, family, meaningful work and also a livelihood.
The employers, for their part, also see an opportunity to retain experienced personnel in an hourly model, and in a flexible scope according to their needs.
The solution to this is a change in the way pensioners are employed and turning them into freelancers (independent workers).
The senior citizen can harness his professional experience as a consultant in his field, as a partner in a specified project, as a mentor, or as a service provider - all on the basis of a specified hourly contract.
The one promoting this revolution is the JoinMe company, which operates together with the AP60+ centers of the Joint and the Ministry for Social Equality and together with the Economic and Social Forum of the Employers in Israel.
Einat Singer Dan (Photo: Barak Shaked)
"The population of senior citizens in the State of Israel is growing because life expectancy is longer than before. There are senior citizens without pensions because they immigrated from other countries and their pensions were not saved or because they did not save enough money for retirement. At the same time, the cost of living makes it very difficult for pensioners. In light of this, we asked ourselves, how do we create a solution to the issue of employment in the third age," says Einat Singer Dan, CEO of the Social Economic Forum and the BR from the Business Sector Presidency. "We discovered that many senior citizens who have retired are not interested in working full-time and want to free up time for leisure activities.
Through the JoinMe platform we have established two tracks - one track is intended for talents who have worked in senior positions with invaluable professional experience who wish to offer services as freelancers.
The second route is intended for people who have been employed all their lives and now want to change professions and offer service as a freelancer in another field that they have always dreamed of."
Roy Folkman, CEO of JoinMe says: "JoinMe is a new platform designed for senior citizens that allows them to find opportunities as freelancers.
Many employers find it difficult to offer senior citizens permanent quality jobs, but they occasionally need the services of experts in their field.
Therefore, when a senior citizen retires, his way to remain significant in the world of employment is by providing service as a freelancer", thus "the community of senior citizens is an economic engine for business organizations and public bodies.
The innovation we offer is that the senior citizen can provide service and contribute his knowledge and expertise to employers in a flexible manner and without an employee-employer contract.
There are many retirees who are interested in offering their service and many employers who need the same service, and we connect employers and senior citizens easily and conveniently."
Roy Folkman (photo: Elad Malka)
Danny Felis (Photo: Public Relations)
So how does the platform work?
"We turn to organizations such as large companies in the economy or local authorities that have an interface with thousands of retirees, and offer to develop the organization as an entrepreneurial community. The organization offers retirees to turn their talent and abilities into a gig. The concept of a gig (small performance) was born in the world of art and performances. Today it expresses the The idea of the service and the product offered by a freelancer. The senior citizens go through a process in which they refine the service they offer. The type of service requested is usually from the worlds of training, consulting, mentoring, leading groups, etc. The retirees create gigs (initiatives) and they can harness other senior citizens to the same initiative The senior citizen can offer his services to various clients and many employers, and work according to a personal and flexible employment contract adapted to his needs and according to his appropriate pricing."
How do you assist senior citizens in the process?
"The Filat Group, which provides diverse services to the world of employment such as professional diagnosis, is our partner in the venture and provides tools that allow the retiree to characterize his desires and abilities and translate them into a professional value proposition. Every retiree can open a talent card with us on the platform and offer his professional abilities. The system allows you to purchase the The service from the pensioner is a fast, efficient and safe process. We encourage the establishment of independent communities of 60+ year olds whose goal is to maintain professional competence in various fields of employment, and we provide digital tools and a telephone service to assist the senior citizen in customer management, payments, opening a business case if necessary, and more."
Einat Singer Dan testifies that the platform is a success both among senior citizens and among employers: "Currently a pilot is running with the local authorities and it is very successful. So far there have been hundreds of pensioners who have provided various services and the response is very high. There is a lot of demand among companies and employers from various fields and we are going out Now we are calling on organizations to reach out to retirees and enjoy their services. The move that we and JoinMe are leading in a big way for the State of Israel."
One of the senior citizens who use the JoinMe platform is Danny Felis (68 years old from Kibbutz Hatzerim, married, father of three children and grandfather of seven grandchildren).
For the past year, Danny has been working as a freelancer as an information systems manager at TechBuddy, a company that provides technological services: "I worked for 25 years as an employee in the field of information systems management and retired at the age of 67. In the past year, I decided to offer my services in the field of information systems management as a freelancer. I work for the company once or twice per week, which is very convenient for me because I can work flexibly, without commitment to a certain amount of hours. Working as a self-employed person allows me to volunteer in various associations such as the "Bells" association which provides advice in the field of family finances, in the "Bederch Lechhalama" association which deals with transporting Palestinian patients to hospitals in Israel." and director of a group of digital mentors at the "App 60" association - a guidance and growth center for senior citizens."
Why did you even decide to work after retirement?
"It is important to have a routine and employment that takes care of the body and mind. Work gives me meaning and a reason to get up in the morning. My privilege as a retiree is that I can determine the scope of work for myself and at the same time engage in a variety of activities that color my life in many colors. The JoinMe platform allows me to reveal the services mine to many organizations and thus receive a variety of job offers."
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