Baby boomers, are you ready to retire? Employers, are you prepared to work on without them? These questions interest economists, and have some of them worried.
“As the oldest baby boomers begin retiring in the next several years, the implications for the workforce could be enormous,” predicted the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in a 2000 report. Will warnings that “service may suffer and needs may go unmet” be accurate?
By 2019, about one-in-three companies expect 20 percent or more of their workforce will be eligible to retire, according Monster Worldwide. And, while most firms see the potential worker exodus as a threat to their business, only 20 percent have strategies to manage and preserve company knowledge.
The focus is on an estimated 76 million baby boomers born from 1946 to 1964 now able to retire. They don’t appear to be rushing to do it. One new study found that 40 percent of Americans aged 55 and older have or are seeking a job, the highest number since 1961, according to a Pew Research Center study just released.
*Still working, ‘hogging’ jobs?*
Boomers appear to be “still hogging jobs,” Nancy Smith wrote in moneywatch.com this summer. That is helping to keep youngsters unemployed and still in school.
“Long-term, certainly there will be many industries severely impacted as baby boomer employees retire,” said Stephanie Klein, founder and president of The Boomer Group, Denver. “However, in the current market, most baby boomers are delaying retirement for two reasons: They can’t afford it and they have an active lifestyle. If you have been working for 35 years, going from 60 mph to 0 doesn’t usually work.” Her company connects experienced workers with area employers.
However, when more boomers head for corporate exits, concerns about significant brain and labor drains will reappear. Retiring boomers will leave the biggest holes in educational services, executive, administrative and managerial occupations, and in all transportation industries (urban transit, bus, taxi, truck, air and water).
*Need hospital, construction staff*
The health services industry, and especially hospitals, also have aging employees. Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are predicted to have heavy employee losses, as well as physicians, dentists and psychologists.
The construction industry is another sector with a number of occupations with a greater-than-average number of workers aged 45 years and older, according to the BLS.
In Colorado, here are 10 industries with the most employees nearing retirement age, according to the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment:
• *Food services* — Jobs include restaurant workers (includes fast food), cooks and servers, losing 4.63 percent of their employees or 179,185 workers
• *Professional, scientific, technical sector* — Employing accountants, auditors, architects, lawyers, 13.95 percent, 178,012
• *Administrative/support services* — Assistants, janitors, landscapers, clerks, security guards, secretaries, 11.26 percent, 136,776
• *Specialty trade contractors* — Carpenters, construction workers, electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, 9.81 percent, 99,779
• *Ambulatory health care services* — Nurses, medical assistants and medical secretaries, 16.28 percent, 91,833
• *Durable goods wholesalers* — Wholesale sales representatives, freight laborers, shipping clerks and truck drivers, 14.35 percent, 58,201
• *Retail* — Sales representatives, cashiers, stock clerks and supervisors, 13.49 percent, 54,288
• *Credit intermediation/related services* — Tellers, loan officers and finance managers, 12.03 percent, 52,804
• *Hospitals* — Nurses, radiologists, orderlies and lab technicians, 16.74 percent (13.6 percent female), 48,608
• *Hotels/accommodations* — Front desk clerks, housekeeping, lodging managers and servers — 10.6 percent, 43,928
While waiting for boomers to stay or go, what can employers do to maintain profitability and stability?
• *Offer more flexible working options*, including part-time and as-needed positions; use retirees and contract employees or advisers
• *Make knowledge retention a priority*, and document critical processes and operations by sharing knowledge
• *Beef up employee recruiting, retention and training strategies*; work with trade organizations and colleges to attract and train workers for needed fields
• *Streamline processes and develop templates* to enable less-skilled workers to perform more complex tasks
• *Use mentoring programs* to enable retired and semi-retired workers to share knowledge and gain satisfaction.
_Linda Gaber is a copywriter and coordinator of JobsWeekly for the Denver Newspaper Agency._