The value created within technically oriented organizations is often a direct result of their most experienced employees. For many organizations, these high value employees tend to be part of the Baby Boomer generation who are leaving the workforce for a much-deserved retirement. Recruiting experienced replacements is a challenge for many companies. Key positions are often open for many months as companies around the nation are identifying shortages of qualified technical candidates.
In order to understand the shortage of technically qualified and experienced workers in the United States, we need to first look at the demographics. While demographers may debate the specific birth years and the resulting population sizes, the United States is generally comprised of the following;
- 77 million Baby Boomers (born 1945 – 1964)
- 51 million Generation Xers (born 1965 – 1979)
- 81+ million Millennials (born 1980 -2000)
The Baby Boomer generation has long been a stable source of technical employees; their strong work ethic and can do spirit were foundations upon which many companies built and grew their business. That said, Baby Boomers are leaving the workforce and many organizations are finding that much of their business intelligence is about to walk out the door with them.
Generation X is the next most logical source for skilled technical employees. Their generation’s tolerance for change, aptitude for multi-tasking, and ability to relate to the Baby Boomers in the workplace can provide a natural match for the transfer of knowledge. However, their generation is 1/3 smaller than the preceding generation. Confounding the shortage is the emergence of Information Technology over the past 40 years that has consumed about 50% of the candidates entering technical fields. The result is for every 3 Baby Boomers exiting the workforce, there is just 1 Gen X worker to assume those responsibilities.
But there’s a lot of Millennials, why don’t we just hire them? Unfortunately, many organizations are discovering that the Millennial generation hasn’t yet come of age – generally speaking, they haven’t yet obtained the skill, experience, and wisdom to entrust them with making the decisions that are critical to the survival of your business.
While it’s exceptionally difficult to change the demographics, we can design and/or revise business plans to improve an organization’s resilience to the effects.
