Demographic change is one of the least understood yet profoundly important issues facing organizations today. The “working-age population” in the U.S. — those from age 16 to 64 — is contracting at a pace not experienced since World War II. Unlike that period, there is no “baby boom” behind it, and none is expected in the near future. Generation Z has three million fewer people than the Millennial generation, and Generation Alpha, which follows Gen Z, is expected to be even smaller.
Due largely to early retirements and a caustic mix of ageism and cost-cutting measures, businesses let too many older workers go during the pandemic — and when they left, so did a lot of institutional memory, expertise and loyalty. Those employers didn’t account for the reality that there might be too few younger workers to fill those roles as the pandemic subsided.
With fewer younger workers entering the labor market for at least a generation, employers that don’t think beyond today’s working-age population will likely struggle to build a reliable workforce that can maintain operational efficiency and effectiveness.
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