Are we ready for the clash of the “ages?”

As Baby Boomers enter retirement age, a vast majority of them are looking for something to keep them busy. For some, it’s delving more into a lifelong hobby. For others, it’s taking time to relax, travel and see the grandchildren. An increasing number want to stay employed, and a second career, or just a job to stay active, is very alluring.

A growing number, however, don’t have much of a choice because of layoffs, early buyouts or bad planning on retirement funds. Regardless, there are a number of over-55 workers who want to keep working.

According to an AARP survey conducted last spring, 32 percent of workers age 55-64 said they delayed their planned retirement dates because of a slowing economy. In many cases, investments haven’t panned out, 401(k) plans have underperformed, and retirement plans made 20 or 30 years before suddenly seem impossible to reach.

For every busy Baby Boomer who likes the idea of extending his or her career beyond 62 or 65, there are an undetermined number who regret that planning at age 42 or 45 to retire early is no longer practical. How many agree with financial planner Christine Fahlund of T. Rowe Price, who was quoted in a recent Associated Press story that “the longer the delay, the better financially. To me, the ideal would be 70, because you get the biggest Social Security benefit possible and all those additional years of employment.”

But for those who may be looking at the glass half full, working longer can improve a sense of self worth. A report by the Retirement Policy Center at the Urban Institute points out that being active through work promotes emotional, social and physical well-being.

“For many people, it just makes sense to keep on working,” said Keith Bender, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who researches retirement issues. “I would not be surprised at all if we see that average age of retirement creeping up and not necessarily because of any financial pressure, although that may be part of it. But I don’t see that as the main motivating thing.”

Bender believes this trend might ease some worries by employers about being left with hard-to-fill vacancies. “Overall, there may be a silver lining in all of this,” Bender told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “That information transfer and big shock of losing so many workers in such a short amount of time may be lessened if these 65- to 70-year-olds stay in the labor force a little bit longer.”

One side effect of all this worries Monique Morrissey, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, in Washington, D.C. Morrissey warns older workers could be clogging the pipeline for younger job seekers. If the economy continues to slow and new jobs fail to grow, that could present a problem. But at present Boomers make up about one-third of the U.S. workforce and frankly don’t possess some of the skills for the new economy, chiefly in technical and medical fields.

Labor shortages in some areas will force a radical rethinking of recruitment, retention, flexible work schedules and retirement. This is a win-win for the generations.