1. Introduction
2. Advantages of an aging workforce 2.1 Knowledge 2.2 Experience
3. Problems of an aging workforce 1. High health care costs and pension benefits 2. Lost of experience, corporate knowledge and business relations
4. Strategies which can be implemented 1. Mentoring and teaming 2. Redesigning retirement package
5. Conclusion
1. Introduction
Baby boomers, people born between the years 1946 to 1964, in United States alone there was an increase in population by 78 million during this period. (United States Census Bureau). Then, they were the baby boomers and now they are known as a global phenomenon being experienced by all industries, the aging workforce. In the United States, in 2008, 18% of its labor workforce was 55 years old and above and projected that it will increase to 23% in 2018 ( Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright 2011). The aging workforce is a workforce who can’t be overlooked; it poses both advantages and problems to the industries. This report looks at the advantages and problems of this aging workforce and strategies implemented by organizations to overcome these problems.
2. Advantages of an aging workforce
1. Knowledge
The aging workforce has been working for the past 30 years or so, based on that, they have accumulated a wealth of knowledge in the industries they have worked in. This is a great advantage in a knowledge economy, as someone in working in such industry for 30 years has a great edge over someone who has been in the same industry for much lesser number of years. The bottom line: Age does not necessarily correlate with declining productivity in a knowledge economy (Gary L Geipel 2003). In such knowledge driven industries, the aging workforce is a great asset to the companies.
2. Experience
The aging workforce, the word