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FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason University has been named one of the top ten best places to work for people over the age of 50 by AARP.

"I'll be just a little over the speed limit - 56," said Helga Yunker, GMU human resources office manager. Her birthday is tomorrow.

She says, working at GMU, age is viewed as an asset. "They value the employee who has a lot of experience, but perhaps not as many credentials as perhaps the younger workers have."

To get the more mature workers up to speed, GMU offers free courses and technical training. "I actually could retire now, I work here because I love it."

Patrice Winter took a paycut to become an assistant professor. "They have custom made a position for me. I'm 55; how often does this happen?"

At GMU, about 1/3 of the school's staff are over the age of 50. "It turns out 40 percent of our new hires were the boomer age and over," said Linda Harber, associate VP for human resources.

Harber says age isn't a factor, but after the school won it's first AARP top employer award in 2007, she's seen an increase in applications from the over 50 crowd.

"After we won our first one three years ago, I got a lot of emails from people who retired from the feds or retired from around here and said they saw us in AARP magazine and they wanted to apply."

It seems that once people start at GMU, they rarely want to stop. "I don't plan on retiring. You know, I'm one of those boomers that plan to stay as long as they'll have me," said Winter.

Two other local companies places in the AARP top ten list. The National Institute of Health in Bethesda came in third and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Arlington placed fifth.

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