New Entrances after Exit from Employment

Three major types of activities in life are entrance, progress, and exit. Progress is defined as moving from the entrance to the exit. Progress during employment therefore may refer to motion of the calendar rather than the employee’s achievements. Retirement from employment typically is a stressful exit because it usually follows prolonged employment and coincides with the impairments of aging. Below I broadly consider the issue and then discuss my own situation.

Many people feel that retirement from paid employment is the end of productive life. Contrary to this sentiment, productive activities are more satisfying if they benefit oneself instead of an employer. The exit from employment can be followed by entrances to multiple activities. The retired person has the advantages of self-direction and more available time. The advantages of retirement are maximized if the person enjoys being independent and does multiple productive activities, some of which began prior to retirement.

Failure or rejection at the end of employment may be an incentive for better progress after new entrances. Several presidents of the United States have performed outstanding public service after they failed to be reelected. These include John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, Taft, Hoover, and Carter. Their assets were the pride and experience obtained from a single term as president. Most employees, who were never president, can develop pride and experience that contribute to their performance after their new entrances.

People who retire after many years of full-time employment have developed the habit of diligent and focused efforts. They have accumulated much experience. They benefit from less concern about their personal future and more interest in the future of younger people. Age and experience help opinions and decisions to be more rational and careful—characteristics which are in short supply in contemporary society.

After thirty-eight years of service researching and teaching, I retired five years ago as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. In common with many other professors, my exit from the university was not complete. I am Professor Emeritus, with access to the university’s computer facilities and libraries. I am assigned a desk, computer, and file cabinet in an office shared with a few other faculty members. In a typical week I go to the office once or twice and my activities there are usually brief. Occasionally I attend a seminar at the university.

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The most conspicuous change from my employment is that my residence is the location of most of my activities, especially use of the computer. The increase in my available time after retirement is magnified because I do not need to travel to the office. The more convenient location improves the quality of my reading, data analyses, and writings. There are also fewer restrictions on my travel to conferences and for research. Thus the excellent training I received at Harvard and Yale so many years ago can be put to work with fewer impediments.

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