Respect Your Elders
Four of every 10 employers in the U.S. profess to be concerned that the aging of the workforce will have a negative impact on their business over the next three years. But it might be all hand wringing and no action: the same survey found that two-thirds have not analyzed the demographics of their workforce and 77 percent have not analyzed the projected retirement dates of their employees.
So what do you make of that seemingly mixed message? According to the Sloan Center on Aging and Work, the unit that gathered the data as part of its Strategic Talent Management Study, part of the answer lies in the tight financial circumstances in which many organizations find themselves.
Researchers at Sloan dug deep into their survey of 696 U.S. organizations and identified four different employer groups:
- “Lower pressured employers” anticipate a positive or neutral impact from the aging of the workforce and are not suffering from the economy (24 percent of the sample).
- “Economically pressured employers” aren’t concerned about an aging workforce but are struggling to keep up in the economy (36 percent).
- “Age-pressured employers” are really worried about the aging workforce but are in decent financial shape (12 percent).
- “Age/economically pressured employers” are stuck in the worst of both worlds (28 percent).
The Sloan report builds the case for organizations to conduct a rigorous assessment of their workforce demographics, projected retirement dates, and future skills needs. The report includes a handy chart outlining workforce planning considerations for employers, depending on where they sit on the “pressure” scale.
Download a copy of the report here or email me at Alan [at] AlanMorantz.com.
