Demographic

Summary: Population Demographics
The world is having a demographic shift that will restructure societies, economies and markets in the future. According to United Nations forecasts, the world population will either stabilize or peak around 2050 (Rob Norton, 2010). For the past centuries, the population was at an ever-accelerating rate. However the population will stop increasing because of decreasing birth rates as nations advance economically. The world’s population, especially in developed countries, is aging rapidly mainly because of the decline of birth rates and better health care which prolongs life spans. By 2050, developed countries such as Japan and those in Western Europe will have a population age 60 and above more than 40 percent (Rob Norton, 2010). The United States has similar demographic attributes as Japan and Europe however high rates of immigration are compensating the trend toward aging.
From 1950 to 2010, the global population nearly tripled, and the U.S. population doubled. However, population growth from 2010 to 2050 is estimated to be much slower and is expected to increase for the oldest age groups, both globally and in the U.S (Pew, 2014). This means that aging are likely to be felt more acutely in the future as younger populations, those of children and those of middle-age adults, are at near standstill now.
These demographic shifts will have a massive change in markets and economies, and will require entirely new approaches for business firms. One of the challenges that business firm will face is the aging population. For example in Japan and Europe, there is a big generation gap opening up, between the older people who are enjoying government benefits and the younger generations that are bearing the financial burden. One of a solution which can be beneficial for both Japan and Europe would be to open up the frontiers to migration and allow in younger workers from less-developed countries (Rob Norton, 2010).
Furthermore, the changing demographics will have an impact on human resources strategies for business firms (Nolop, 2013). This is because companies will seek to retain sufficiently productive and skilled employees to meet their talent requirements. This means companies will need to re-evaluate their employee-value propositions for a dramatically altered workforce to cater the older group in the future.

References
1) Rob Norton, 2010. Facing Up to the Demographic Dilemma. Retrieved from “http://www. strategy-business.com/article/10105?pg=”.
2) Pew Research, 2014. Chapter 4: Population Change in the U.S. and the World from 1950 to 2050. Retrieved from “http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/01/30/chapter-4-population-change-in-the-u-s-and-the-world-from-1950-to-2050”
3) Bruce Nolop, 2013. The Wall Street Journal 's 2013 CEO Council Conference. Retrieved from “http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240527023035629045792280002623”

References: 1) Rob Norton, 2010. Facing Up to the Demographic Dilemma. Retrieved from “http://www. strategy-business.com/article/10105?pg=”. 2) Pew Research, 2014. Chapter 4: Population Change in the U.S. and the World from 1950 to 2050. Retrieved from “http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/01/30/chapter-4-population-change-in-the-u-s-and-the-world-from-1950-to-2050” 3) Bruce Nolop, 2013. The Wall Street Journal 's 2013 CEO Council Conference. Retrieved from “http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240527023035629045792280002623”