Factors related to bridge employment participation among private sector early retirees

Many retirees choose to participate in some form of bridge employment—part time, self-employment or temporary work that follows an individual’s long-term or career job and precedes permanent retirement (Feldman, 1994). In this study, correlates of bridge employment participation were examined using a sample of 133 early retirees from an oil and gas services firm. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that organizational tenure, certainty of retirement plans, and career-related pull factors accounted for a significant portion of the variance in overall participation in bridge employment after controlling for the effects of age, gender, and marital status. At the same time, the significance of organizational tenure, career-related pull factors, and entrepreneurial orientation, varied as a function of the category of bridge work performed by retirees, that is, whether retirees were employed within the same industry or a different industry. Differences between these results and those of previous studies using public sector employees are discussed.