Amara Omeokwe

speaker

439 appearances 11 recordings 1 series first heard Mar 2020 last heard Dec 2023

Amara Omeokwe’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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WSJ Your Money Briefing · In the 'Great Resignation,' Older Workers Lead the Way · 5 Nov 2021 podcast

Thanks for having me.

Well, the workers I talked to for this story and the economists I've spoken with about this trend say that there are several reasons for what we're seeing with retirements during the pandemic.

So for some older workers, it was the fear of coronavirus.

As we know, older people are more at risk from serious illness or death from COVID-19.

And one of the workers I spoke with had pre-existing health conditions.

And he said, look, I was just really afraid that if I caught coronavirus, I could die from it.

And so he retired from his job and that triggered a lot of financial issues for him and his family.

But for him, when he weighed the potential health risks, it just made more sense to retire.

Other older Americans I spoke with said the pandemic just kind of changed their priorities and their desires.

I spoke to a woman who was a literacy coach for a school system in South Carolina, and she said she was just kind of tired, kind of burnt out over the pandemic.

She didn't want to have to do her job during this upcoming school year.

And so she just she kind of retired when she thought she might work for another two years or so.

And then we also saw during the pandemic, you know, the stock market eventually performed really well.

Other assets performed really well.

And so for some older Americans, that just put them in a better financial position and made them feel more comfortable with the idea of retiring.

Well, you know, one thing that I also heard in reporting this story is this idea of age discrimination.

So I talked to a man who early in the pandemic was laid off from his job because his employer was cost cutting.

And he said he didn't want to stop working.

He really wanted to continue working.

And he submitted well over 100 applications, he said.

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