Going Back to Work

By Heather Green

Going Back to Work

Retirement. Even the word sounds peaceful, bucolic. But these days, the retired are finding themselves in a situation that's anything but. The downturn in the stock and housing markets has hit those in retirement particularly hard because they tend to be most dependent on those two assets for their living expenses.

Today a number of the people who thought they were done with the world of work are heading back out to look for jobs. People in their 60s and 70s are discovering that the security they thought they had was illusory. They're polishing up their résumés and trying to find jobs wherever they can. These are the Unretired. BusinessWeek interviewed 35 people in this situation. Here are some of their stories.