A sonic boom is a series of shock waves that is produced when an object surpasses the speed of sound. The resulting waves produce a tremendous amount of energy that sounds like an explosion. Much like the end result of an object exceeding the sound barrier, so similar will be the end result of the rapidly approaching exodus of the baby boomer workforce. What are the expected outcomes of this historical transition and what are some measures companies and individuals can take to preserve the integrity of their current personnel?
Over 76 million Americans were born between the years 1946 and 1964 therefore putting them into the category of “baby boomers.” This population is especially distinct because not only it is the largest percentage of all persons in the United States, it is the portion of the workforce that holds the most overall skill and knowledge. The oldest of the baby boomer population turned 60 in 2006 which means that this group has already become eligible for social security benefits, and within just three years, will be eligible for retirement. Not all workers who are eligible to retire necessarily will, but this sharp potential decrease in skilled workers will have staggering effects on the stability of companies for years to come.
This is not to say that younger workers will not step up and take the challenge, but they will not be able to completely fill the void left by the boomers. They simply cannot invent years of experience, and plus, there simply are not enough of them. We can anticipate seeing serious deficits in management and leadership skills, verbal communication and coaching, organizational vision and strategy, team leadership and motivation, and overall decision making and problem solving. Many of these skills are typically developed through trial and error experience.
Many companies are considering restructuring benefits packages and other incentive plans to try to lure boomers to stay longer. The hope is that more experienced workers can impart at least a portion of their knowledge on younger employees. Although this solves some immediate problems, this also creates tension between older and younger workers. The generational differences will prove to be quite difficult to gap; the sets of values that younger and older groups have are a sharp contrast to one another. While those of the “boomer” generation value a hard days’ work and have lived through a variety of historical events that help to reinforce the importance of hard work. However, younger generations have had the luxury of operating on the impetus of instant gratification and a sense of entitlement (more often than not supplied by their baby boomer parents).
So what is the best solution to this problem? Is there a reasonable (and reasonably fast) way to allow boomers to leave the workforce and take their massive knowledge base, without significant damage to many large industries? The massive force of baby boomers exiting the working world is certain to create major shock waves no matter how you slice it. As is the case with a sonic boom, the increased pressure that is created by this rapid movement will force industries to adjust how they operate, grapple to find knowledgeable and competent workers, and plan for succession more carefully for the future rather than waiting for another phenomenon like this to rock their world. But we are still nowhere near ready.
So now what?………
April 5, 2008 at 10:21 pm
nice work, man