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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — It’s supposed to be a time in your life where you finally reap the benefits of your years of hard work, but many baby boomers are finding retirement is not what they expected it to be.

For many, personal savings and social security are not enough to live on — forcing many retirees back into the world of work.

Gregory Hunter retired from a career as a maintenance technician when he was 60.

As someone who also retired from the Army Reserve, he thought his pension and social security would be enough until a personal situation impacted his finances.

“I got into a financial difficulty this year so I decided to go back into the workforce,” Hunter said.

Hunter went to the NCWorks Career Center of Forsyth County in Winston-Salem — a place that says retired seniors consistently go looking for jobs.

“People who are normally retired at the age of 63 to 65 years old are finding that they are not able to make it. Therefore, they are returning to the workforce looking for employment and are visiting our centers,” said William Pass, workforce development board assistant director with The Piedmont Triad Regional Council.

Pass says retired seniors often come in discouraged because they don’t know where their skills fit in, but also said employers are looking to hire an older population.

“They are basically telling us degrees are great, but if they can find someone who has the basic skills along with those soft skills like communication, teamwork, conflict resolution, decision making, if they could find somebody that holds those skills, they could take the person and train them,” Pass said.

Now 65, Hunter is back working as a maintenance technician.

“Prepare yourself for the downfall. Things happen in life and we can’t stop it, but we’ve got to go ahead and work and keep going forward with it,” he said.

The NCWorks Career Center has placed seniors in health care and child care fields, among others.

For information on the Workforce Development Services in any county, contact the administrative office of The Piedmont Regional Council at (336) 904-0300.