using retired persons in the work force

There has been a lot of news about social security costs in the future as more people retire. I think a bigger question is how to take advantage of the knowledge and skills retired people have. Right now, once a person reaches retirement age, society tends to put them aside; as if they nolonger can make significant contributions.

It is true that older persons tire more easily and can't or won't work full 40 hour weeks. Projections are that over 35% of the adult population will be of retirement age soon. It seems to me that society and business needs to find ways to permit such persons to be productive and to do this in a non coersive way (i.e. not through tax or social security penalties).

For knowldge workers an approach might be to use them, in information technology, to such tasks as documentation, testing, user training, peer reviews, quality control, etc. In general business (inculding IT) activities such as mentoring, stratigic planning, education, and so forth would be a good fit. The key is to leverage on an experienced person's judgement, perspective, and work habits.