Yet another survey(US) on the aging workforce underlines the potential disconnect between perceptions and reality. In October of 2006 WorldatWork, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and Buck Consultants conducted an Internet-based survey to evaluate the impact of an aging workforce on the American marketplace.
Four hundred eighty-seven organisations contributed to the survey database, representing a broad cross-section of the domestic business landscape. Approximately 64% of the responses came from companies having 1,000 employees or more, with 20% of the companies surveyed reporting at least 20,000 employees.
The primary objective of this survey, entitled The Real Talent Debate: Will Aging Boomers Deplete the Workforce?, was to assess the overall degree to which respondents considered the pending retirement of baby boomers, and reduced employee availability in succeeding generations, to be a significant issue.
The findings are interesting in the seemingly deep sense of denial combined with a significant feeling of potential risk. Here is the odd combination of conflicting results:
- Only 42% think the issue is significant with 60% saying there is no associated business risk. Yet 62% believe that cost increases resulting from the loss of an aging workforce are highly significant and 87% believe the aging workforce’s knowledge preservation is important.
- 93% believe aging workers want to remain in the workforce due to financial reasons. But 80% have not bothered to survey their aging workforce about their intentions.
- 52% see the loss of senior leadership as the greatest risk in the loss of mature workers. However, more than 50% do not proactively recruit mature workers.
Clearly, confusion exists in the debate, and global surveys do not do justice to the demographic of individual companies. Survey differences exist between small and large organisations, different industries and different locales. However, prudent organisations will conduct their own survey to determine business risk as a result of the aging workforce and develop formal knowledge management and transfer programs relevant to their own needs.
