Never retire!

HYDERABAD: It is true that serious professionals work well beyond their retirement age, for it can take a lifetime to learn all the skills. What is the best age to retire then? Is it 50 or 60? How about never? That’s right, ‘never retire’ is the motto of 64-year-old city-based entrepreneur Anil Kumar Siddu. Anil and his partner CS Chalam devised a web platform that allows senior citizens with decades of experience in their chosen areas of work to share expertise on mutually beneficial terms with new startups.

Their tech platform, SeniorExperts.in helps professionals who spent a lifetime honing their skills share their expertise with startups and young minds who just started their careers as micro, small and enterprises (MSMEs). “About 38 million senior citizens spread across the globe. We would like to empower them. We believe that experts who retired are not tired yet. Seniors can define things much better than the new generations, then why don’t we give an expert opinion to all the evolving companies? Our platform can help budding companies hire senior experts on a part-time or full-time base, based on their requirements,” says Anil Kumar Siddu who worked as a property developer in Mumbai and Hyderabad for four decades.   

Their platform is promoted by a company called GCSPL. “With this platform, we felt we could contribute assistance to a lot of MSMEs and startups that keep on failing for various reasons,” Anil who is also the co-founder of the platform says. Explaining the motive of this platform he explains, “We have been guiding youngsters and our efforts have been acknowledged by IIT Guwahati as well. IIT Guwahati is going to work with us for the next three years in helping develop startups.”

Speaking further about the inspiration behind this platform Anil adds, “The word retired is a concept of British, where after 60 professionals retire. It was considered that people over 60 are incapable for work and but we still have people who are 80 and still work. Until retirement is dictated by body and mind, one should work till then one can work. Since March this year, the platform has seen 17,000 senior citizens register and the number continues to grow, shares Anil.