There’s a lot in the press recently about how retiring baby boomers will leave a big void in the workforce. I came upon the site of Chief Learning Officer today, and they spell it all out – between 2010 and 2015 the growth in over 65 year olds will begin outpacing the growth in 20-64 year olds. And this will continue for an amazing 25 years!
Chief Learning Officer says the gap won’t be as pronounced as we all might think because some of it will be filled by “correcting gender imbalance in certain positions” as well as outsourcing (presumably offshore) and by hiring of new immigrants.
And many of the over-65 crowd won’t want to leave the workforce, and some will need to work, at least part-time, to keep up their lifestyles. They got the taste of life during the ‘70’s, ‘80’s and ‘90’s and it’s hard to buy a non-luxury car, or to stop putting all that fine wine knowledge to use.
Setting aside their worries about being blocked mid-rung on the career ladder, how do younger workers feel about working with their Dad’s or even their grandfather’s generation?
A lot of the answer comes down to communication. According to a US News and World Report article that hits right to the point, entitled, “Are You Deadwood?” co-workers don’t want to work with someone who says “Well, we used to do this”, but would rather have them offer possible solutions, and approaches that worked in the past, giving the others the benefit of their experience – as well as the contacts they’ve made over the years.
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