Did you know?
In the last 10 years, workers 45 and older have increased from 33% to 40% of the U.S. workforce, while workers age 25-44 have declined from 51% to 44% of the labor force. [Source: Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce, by David W. DeLong]
A study of 115 U.S. companies conducted by RHR International found half the firms expected to lose 50% or more of their senior management by 2010. [Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics in “Aging Workforce Presents Business Challenges,” by B. Neill, Bradenton Herald, 2/3/08]
At NASA, the number of engineers and scientists older than 60 outnumber those under age 30 by almost 3 to 1. [Source: Lost Knowledge]
One recent study reports that two-thirds of U.S. employers are doing no workforce planning of any kind. [Source: “Talent Management for the 21 st Century,” by P. Cappelli, Harvard Business Review, 3/08:76]
In the next few years, the number of workers age 55+ in the U.S. will grow at an annual rate four times that of the overall labor force. [Source: BLS, Neill, Bradenton Herald, 2/3/08]
According to studies by AARP and the Conference Board, more than 60% of U.S. companies are currently rehiring retirees as contractors or consultants. [Source: Lost Knowledge]
About 25% of 637,000 aerospace workers in the U.S. could be eligible to retire in 2008. [Source: “Aerospace industry fears aging workforce’s impact” by D. Montgomery, McClatchy Newspapers, Pantagraph.com, 1/20/08]
Both commercial & military segments of the aerospace industry expect sales to increase by $12 billion this year. The demand for aerospace, electrical, mechanical and computer engineering skills is expected to be double what it was 10 years ago. [Source: Montgomery, McClatchy Newspapers, Pantagraph.com, 1/20/08]
The oil & gas production industry expects to lose more than 60% of its employees by 2010. [Source: Lost Knowledge]
Many industrialized countries face a mismatch between labor supply and demand. For example, in 2006 Germany had a shortage of about 48,000 engineers, a figure expected to grow significantly in the future. [Source: “Managing Demographic Risk,” by R. Strack, J. Baier, and A. Fahlander , Harvard Business Review, 2/2008.]
When a veteran marketing manager leaves General Mills, the knowledge that is lost about the product’s customers and how to market effectively can cost the company millions of dollars. [Source: When Generations Collide by L. Lancaster & D. Stillman, 2002.]
When faced with the impending retirement of a veteran systems engineer, Rolls-Royce management calculated the retirement of this primary systems troubleshooter would cost the company $400,000 in the first year if nothing was done to transfer his expertise. [Source: “Knowledge management – How to beat the baby boomer retirement blues,” by S. Patton, CIO Magazine, 1/15/06.]
Engineers, electricians, and heavy-truck drivers are just a few of the 100-plus occupations currently experiencing shortages in Alaska, which threaten the continued expansion of oil, gas, and mining operations. [Source: “Industry focuses on technical training for future jobs,” by C. Horton, Alaska Journal of Commerce, 2/3/08.]
In Germany, the unemployment rate for unskilled labor is more than six times higher than that of university graduates. Most industrialized countries face a similar situation. [Source: “Managing Demographic Risk,” by R. Strack, J. Baier, and A. Fahlander , HBR, 2/2008.]
The Canadian mining industry needs to fill 81,000 highly-skilled new positions in the next 10 years, but like many old-line industries mining suffers from a poor image problem, which makes recruiting very difficult. [Source: “Educating the next generation about the mineral industry,” by S. Sudo, posted on www.republicofmining.com, 2/22/08.]
Healthcare organizations are currently experiencing a shortage of 8 to 10 percent of the nurses needed, a shortage that is expected to grow to up to 30 percent by 2020 as more older nurses retire. [Source: Robert Rosseter of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, on NPR’s Marketplace, 3/19/08, “Critical Condition: Nurse Shortage Peaks.”]
U.S. nursing schools turned away 40,000 qualified applicants in 2007 because of the lack of qualified faculty. [Source: Rosseter, NPR’s Marketplace, 3/19/08]
A Manpower study of 1,000 U.S. employers in 2007 reported 78% had no concern that an aging workforce could hamper recruitment and retention of talented workers. Just 28% have a strategy to retain workers past retirement age and only 18% have an older-worker recruitment strategy. [1/25/08]