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DEMOGRAPHY:

The statistical study of human populations especially with reference to size and density, distribution, and vital statistics…

− Webster

"Knowing what "will be" is more important than understanding "what once was" because the future bears very little resemblance to the past. If you want to gain insight into the future, you must understand demographic change. If you are a leader of an organization and do not understand the dramatic changes brought about by demographic shifts, your organization will not meet your recruiting, development and retention needs. Leaders that think through the demographic data, come up with the right questions and develop a long-term strategy, that includes an action plan, will ride the wave of change tomorrow. Those who don't will falter and spend more money and time on increasingly disappointing outcomes. If you are a mature worker struggling to figure out your future-focused career and life choices, you will need to marry your demographic knowledge with a keen understanding of evolving technologies, global shifts and other aspects of work and life change. When you learn to do this you will re-write the rules of working in America. If you don't, prepare to watch the world of work go by before you are ready to leave it behind. Let's look at a few age related demographics that affect America's (and your) ability to compete. "AGE SHIFT" is happening…and it is the most defining economic and social change in America. Right now in America, two workers are leaving the workforce for every one entering. To add to this challenge, the next generation (Gen "X" − born after the baby boomers) is smaller in size (46 million) than the boomers (78 million). By working a few years longer, Boomers, and other mature workers, can bridge the gap until Gen "Y" (77+ million) matures. The labor department projects that workers age 55 and older will grow at four times the rate of the labor force overall - the fastest growth rates of any age group. Note that the workforce of 25 to 34-year-olds is growing by only 8 percent a year, while the number of workers aged 35 to 44 is declining by 10 percent a year. The greatest growth − at 52 percent − is among 55 to 64-year-olds. The number of workers 65 and older is growing 30 percent a year. EXAMPLE: Here's just one example where demographic studies should have pointed out the need for planning for the age shift now being experienced in our #1 industry in America − Healthcare. The American College of Nursing states that the nation's nursing shortage will grow to 1 million by 2020. When should we have known about this demographic shortfall? The answer is we could have known long ago and we should have planned and built a time-sensitive educational infrastructure to train more nurses way back when the baby boomers became mainstream adults. Did we plan and act on the changing demographics? The short answer, for most of us, was "NO." Specifically, how did lack of planning and acting affect us? In 2004, for example, U.S. nursing schools turned away 41,683 qualified applicants due to an "insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites and classroom space." The ripple effect caused (and is causing) mature nursing staff to leave and patients to suffer the consequences. A day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes, tell us of several "after the fact" studies that document the obvious demographic connection between the nursing shortages and the diminishing quality of the world's most costly healthcare. Now we're stuck in a very expensive race to catch up with demand. HOW ABOUT YOUR INDUSTRY? ARE YOU PREPARED TO RECRUIT, DEVELOP AND RETAIN THE MATURE WORKFORCE? Leaders - Don't get caught with your planning down! Ask yourself: What is the median age in your COUNTY or CITY and what is the availability of your community's workforce by age group? How is your population trending? Are people cashing out and moving away? Do you need to create new ways to work (flexible and temp workforce, telecommuting, etc.) in order to avail yourself of local, as well as remote, talent at a cost-effective price? Do your recruiters and hiring staffs understand the advantages of hiring mature workers? Are they free of myths and bias and well versed in the facts and benefits? Are training and educational programs developed and widely promoted to all individuals in your organization, regardless of age? (Yes, Virginia…you can teach old dogs new tricks.) Do you offer mentoring services up, down and across organizational boundaries? Have you institutionalized transfer of knowledge programs in order to capture knowledge wherever it may be found? Knowledge is not limited to long-term workers but that is, after all, where much of experience sits. Have you considered incentives to delay retirement or to make phased retirement a reality in your firm? Have you calculated the savings by implementing such incentives? Have you implemented specialized career planning for prospective retirees who will want (or need) to continue to contribute to the world of work, in some capacity, long after they leave your company? (Helping people to plan for the future is a terrific retention strategy.) Have you created a retiree job bank in order to attract experienced workers for short-term jobs or high priority projects? Is your succession planning − planned? UPDATE FROM FORWARD THINKING INSTITUTIONS COMPETING FOR TALENT: Prudential Financial is one of a growing number of employers starting to provide eldercare benefits for employees' family members. Companies, including NBC Universal, Unilever USA and McGraw-Hill, offer services that include paying for emergency caregivers and connecting employees with nursing-home finders or physicians who specialize in the care of their aging parents. Just an FYI, nearly 25% of U.S. households are now involved in caring for a senior family member according to the National Alliance of Caregiving and, approximately, 15 million days of work per year are lost due to these circumstances. The Mature Worker's Role Your job is to promote the benefits of the above actions to your leadership and HR teams. And, why should you do this? Because AGING affects you! Or, it soon will. You will not change color, gender or race but you will, like the rest of us, grow older. Percent of People Who Are Aging: 100%