Employers better start gettingused to accommodating all those baby boomers who are planning onworking past the “normal” retirement age, whatever that is thesedays.

According to Gallup, many of them intend to stay on the job atleast until age 66 and perhaps as long as age 73. But whetherthey'll approach their work with passion or simply persistenceremains an important and unanswered question.

Either way, Gallup said that even those with the wherewithal toretire in their early 60s don't want to. They either like work, areaddicted to it, or are so worried about living under a bridge thatthey keep putting on the harness every morning despite theirreported wealth.

Gallup reports that boomers who say yes to “I have enough moneyto do everything I want to do” expect to retire at age 66. Boomerswho strongly disagree with this statement predict they will retiresignificantly later, at age 73.

Gallup says (or the stats say) that employers need to understandthis trend and integrate it into their business strategies. Withthe EEOC demonstrably ramping up discrimination enforcement, theseolder workers enjoy strong federal protection. And other trendsspotted by Gallup indicate that, because the boomers may not beworking out of loyalty to their employer, they may not hesitate totrigger a discrimination investigation.

The work-until-you-drop attitude of boomers was kind of built into the generation, Gallup says. But then came the recession, whichstiffened their resolve to stay on the job.

“Even before the 2008-2009 recession, financial advisers werewarning that some baby boomers were carrying too much debt, savingtoo little, and relying too heavily on Social Security to retirecomfortably,” Gallup reports. “And then came the economic collapse– a perfect storm of layoffs, pension and stock losses, andplummeting home values – which was particularly ill-timed forboomers who might otherwise have been in financial shape to retireon schedule with the start of their Social Security.”

Many postponed retirement during that time. Now, the questionis: Are they engaged at work, or just showing up? It's crucial toknow the level of their engagement, since they intend to stay onthe job, but may not have much passion for the work.

Says Gallup: “About one in three (31 percent) employed boomersare engaged at work, compared with 38 percent of traditionalists(those born before 1946), 30 percent of Generation X workers, and28 percent of millennials. However, baby boomers who expect toretire after age 65 are slightly more engaged (34 percent) in theirjobs than boomers overall.”

Thus their engagement level isn't bad by comparison to othergenerations of workers, except the oldest ones, who will be agingout in large numbers soon. And, they do have knowledge and skillsthat should serve the organization well, and would arguably putthem in the position of mentoring younger workers. Managing themeffectively will be the key to extracting the value of the boomers,Gallup says.

“As they continue to age and work, it is important that theirorganizations build workplaces with outstanding managers wholeverage the experiences of older workers by positioning them to dowhat they do best – listening to their insights and opinions, andcontinuing to develop their talents into strengths. By investing inbaby boomers' engagement, employers will reap the benefits that anengaged workforce brings to their bottom line. A targeted effort toengage baby boomers could have important ramifications forhealthcare costs and productivity for individual workplaces and theoverall U.S. economy.”