Age is just a number

Did you know that there are more professionals over the age of 50 employed right now than ever before? According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 in 4 employees will be over the age of 55 by 2024, with one-third of these workers being over 65. At ServiceMaster by Stratos, we are proud to have many service partners that fall into these age groups. As of Aug. 2020, we have 22 service partners 65 years or older and another 107 that are 55 years or older! This means that 129 of our service partners are at least 55 years old. A stat such as this one may be of concern to some business owners, but our leadership team is proud to employ these hardworking individuals.

1939, 1940 and 1946 – those are the birth years of the five eldest service partners on our team. With age comes wisdom, and this group has a lot of that! Just think of all that has changed and all they have seen come to pass. They’ve witnessed the first man walk on the moon and the launch of the Rubik’s Cube, among many other notable happenings. In addition to wisdom, age naturally brings experience. With those experiences come life lessons learned that relate to respect, self-control and professionalism – all things that make these service partners great mentors within our organization.

Name and age: Ethel Wise, 81
Ethel began working for Stratos in May 2018. She gives her all to provide a safe, healthy working environment for those employed at a busy office building.

Name and age: Maxine Hines, 80
Maxine has been with Stratos for more than 4 years. You can find her keeping the ServiceMaster headquarters building in Downtown Memphis looking its best.

Name and age: Mayo Wilson, 74
Mayo has been with Stratos for a little over a year. He services several banking institutions in the area.

Name and age: Bennie Tanksley, 74
Bennie joined our team two years ago. He is doing an excellent job servicing financial institutions in Northwest Mississippi. 

Name and age: Pattie Hurt, 74
The longest tenured of the five, Pattie joined Stratos in 2007.

“I love working for Stratos. Having a job to go to allows me to see people, and motivates me to get out and keep busy instead of sitting at home.”

There is no age limit for staying active and working if you can and have the desire to continue doing so. What a blessing it is to have these five experienced individuals! If you work alongside seasoned veterans like those mentioned above, listen closely to them and pay attention to their actions. They are likely to share some valuable wisdom and set a great example for how we all should carry ourselves inside and outside the work environment.