The Changing Workforce
A demographic shift need not impede economic growth, if employers prepare
A remarkable transformation is taking place in the composition of the American labor force: it is turning gray. By the end of this decade, the workforce will be older than ever before. Between now and 2020, the number of workers age 55 and over will increase by about 80 percent, to more than 33 million.
To date, few employers have fully prepared for this trend, although it will eventually require many of them to make extensive changes in their workplace policies and operations, including their use of technology.
The demographic shift is occurring because today’s aging Baby Boomers make up nearly half the workforce. Healthier than their forebears, with jobs that are less physically taxing, many are reluctant to retire early or completely. Some simply cannot afford to. A Gallup poll last year found that 46 percent of working adults planned to delay retirement because of the stock market’s decline.
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| The U. S. Workforce Slowing Growth, Getting Older. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Click the chart for a larger image. |
Whatever their motives for staying on the job, older workers will be needed, not only because of their skills and experience, but also because there are not enough younger workers to replace them. The Baby Bust that followed the Boom has dramatically slowed growth in the U.S. labor force, and growth is expected to decline even further. For companies and the economy to expand, older employees must be retained.
Many employers will need to review their human-resource policies and make some accommodations, for Boomers are not immune to the changes that inevitably come with age. Compared with adults under age 45, those between 45 and 64 are more than twice as likely to have some visual impairment, for example, and nearly five times more likely to have some hearing loss.
The good news is that computer technology, much of it developed for people with disabilities, can help keep older workers happy and productive: software that magnifies a computer screen; large track balls and other pointing devices that move a cursor without calling on fine motor skills; voice recognition software that enables people with arthritis to speak more and type less.
Many employers will want to supply such tools without waiting for workers to overcome the stigma of asking for help. And companies can adopt procurement policies to ensure that their future information technology is built to be accessible to all.
To help spread the benefits of technology, Microsoft has collaborated with dozens of other companies that develop software and devices to make computers more accessible and easier to use. As it turns out, these efforts may provide an unexpected benefit for the economy, by enabling millions of workers to extend their most productive years and realize their full potential—whether they are graying, or not.
