Every 8 seconds someone in the United States will turn 60 years old.
76 million Baby Boomers are approaching retirement age. I heard that on the radio while driving yesterday--an unwitting gift for today's weblog post. That statistic ought to prove profitable for greeting card companies and balloon-makers nationwide. Maybe Brittany Spears will do a jitterbug remake of "OOPS! I Did It Again." For employers and workers it signals an important demographic shift. What does that mean for organizations?
Every 18 months Accenture produces the "Accenture High Performance Workforce Study." In the most recent study referenced on the preceding link, 60% of executives reported that they expect to begin feeling the impact over the next five years. 28% said they are feeling the impact now.
What is the impact? A shrinking talent pool of people with knowledge and experience.
Good News
"While nearly a quarter of the U.S. workforce knows of an older
worker who has been denied a job, promotion or raise because of their
age, more than twice as many businesses encourage older workers to stay
on the job than to retire early." (From Management Issues.) This shows a very different trend than that cited in yesterday's post on what's happening in the U.K.
Bad News
According to a survey by HR consultants Hudson noted in the same article, nearly four out of 10 U.S. workers say their organizations want to hold onto older workers because they are difficult to replace, compared to only one in seven whose firms want to make way for younger workers."
If both of these reflect the truth, then we're seeing the potential for some conflict here. On the one hand, it's good that employers are saying they value what long-time employees bring to the company. On the other hand, those employees won't be around forever. Without providing opportunities for younger workers, the possibility exists that a successful company's cultural and operational norms will get lost. For thousands of years, one generation has passed its learnings onto the next. Not all have been accepted or used...but there is a continuity that allows families, communities, and nations to continue to grow. I believe the same is true of companies and non-profits.
The Challenge for Organizations
Using a little stream of consciousness, this is what I am working on with a client right now:
1. Do the numbers. Identify the age demographics and what that might mean.
2. Pinpoint critical positions and skills. What do the numbers tell you about potential gaps?
3. Look at your hiring. Does it match what you found in number 2.
4. Set up intentional ways for younger workers to learn from the older ones.
5. Think about new ways of scheduling work. Older workers want to work--but they may want a different type of schedule. This actually matches pretty well with what we are seeing in younger workers. I'm actually thinking that we need to look at work as a series of projects rather than a single job title. That way they can be staffed and managed based on need and results vs. a single job title whose usefulness rises and falls with changing demands.
What do you think? Click on the Comments link below and weigh in.
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