'Bored' retirees refuse to quit

The number of people working beyond retirement age has more than tripled in the past decade, as the Government faces down calls to raise that age to 67.

Statistics New Zealand figures show 77,600 people aged 65 or over were in paid employment last year, up from 24,700 in 1998.

More than one in six people in this age group were in paid work at the last census, including 12,423 people aged 75 to 84, and 2325 aged 85 and over.

One of them was Rangiora man Christopher Russell, now in his late 70s.

Russell retired from his sales job in 1995, but after remodelling a house he was keen for something else to occupy him.

He looked up an Australian business acquaintance and started marketing and distributing odour control units for sewage pumping stations and sewers. He is contracted to supply six units to the new town of Pegasus in North Canterbury.

"I couldn't bear to be doing nothing," Russell said. "Most of the people working on the contracts are fairly young but they never say anything about my age. They make allowances for me - for example, I can't walk as quickly so they slow down."

Grey Power president Les Howard has a 79-year-old friend in Ngaruawahia who is doing computer programming for Microsoft.

"There's quite a number of [older] people who would be working now if they could," said Howard. "A lot of people have to take on voluntary work because they can't get paid work."

Auckland-born Elaine Jolly celebrated her 85th birthday last week at work. The petite, fit expat is known as the "candy lady" to customers at the Texan giftware store where she works part time at the candy counter.

It is her first paid job. While her American husband was alive she devoted herself to home and children, but after his death in 1992 she wanted to work with the public.

"I just asked them; I was very brash. I said, 'Do you suppose you have something for somebody with no experience?"'

She could not see herself retiring. "They will have to drag me out by my feet."

Christchurch-based recruitment company Grey Skills Employment targets people under 65, but managing director Neal Sales has placed people in their 70s in work.

"A lot of people are bored and just want something to do. You can only play so much golf and mow the lawns so many times," he said.

He has placed a 65-year-old retired senior manager in a house-painting job.

"He'd painted his own houses all his life - even though he was probably on $150,000 - and he just loved to work."

It was not unusual for people in their 70s to work in property maintenance, he said.