‘Designing Strategies’ newsletter
May – June 2006 Volume 3 – Issue 11
The leading edge of the 78.2 million strong Baby Boom generation is at retirement age right now. We are already experiencing a shortage of qualified workers to move in and take their places. The situation will only get worse. We’ve been hearing and talking about this for the past five years, if not longer. You can’t pick up a newspaper or magazine without seeing an article about the generations. Business journals have been warning us that an enormous human resources vacuum is looming on the horizon. This change of generations in the workplace will have major implications.
The Change of Generations in the Workforce Won’t be Easy
There is a significant difference between the number of Boomers and their replacements, Generation X. The good news is that 50% of Gen Xers have attended college compared to only 25% of the Boomers. Highly educated candidates will be available to fill top management positions. only half the number of Boomers attended college. For that reason, they represent a greater portion of the skilled labor pool. They will be leaving in droves for retirement, opening large numbers of skilled job openings for an over-educated Gen X. This change of generations is going to shake things up quite a bit. The big gaping hole of available, qualified candidates will come in the area of skilled laborers.
What will this mean for the design/build industry? The building industry will be significantly affected as many of the skilled trades: plumbers, carpenters, electricians and the like will be in short supply. New housing starts could slow considerably. Skilled laborers that our industry depends on like seamstresses (drapery workrooms, upholstery shops), as well as cabinet and furniture makers will also be among those shortages. Skilled painters and finishers, carpet and flooring installers and others who keep our industry moving are also going to be difficult to find. Age won’t be the only difference coming with this change of generations. With 50% of the incoming labor pool being college graduates, the pool of skilled workers will shrink significantly.
Start Planning for the Change in Generations Coming to the Workforce
Are you feeling the human resources pinch yet? How do you plan to control the situation and keep your business moving forward smoothly? Have you given any thought to where your replacement workers will come from? If you have not already done so, now is the time to review your labor pool to determine who will need replaced and how soon? What specific skilled laborers will you need to acquire, or train? With this needs analysis in hand, incorporate strategies and tactics into your planning to deal with the upcoming labor shortage. Replacing skilled workers with 10, 15 or 20 years on the job with someone new to the business can cause serious problems if you have not planned ahead to deal with it strategically.
What Generation X Values
In a study done by Ms. Marty Robinson, president of Travel Career Network, LTD, Gen Xers were asked what they valued most. From their list of 19 separate things of importance to them, Life Balance, Fun and Family ranked 1st , 2nd and 3rd . The next three values cited related more to a work environment. Those were: Flexible Hours, Opportunities for Training/Skills and then Stability. Is your company positioned to provide these things for your incoming Gen X work force?”
Most workers replacing retiring Baby Boomers will be from Generation X. If you believe that ‘a worker is a worker’, your impression couldn’t be farther from reality. Each generation through their own life experiences in terms of events and situations in the world around them during their formative years. Political, economic, moral and other influences they experience growing up and maturing become the basis for each generation’s adult value system.
Baby Boomers were our workforce for the last two or three decades. Their background let them believe they could do anything. We put a man on the moon, so surely we are capable of anything. We just have to work hard enough and long enough. If that means getting to the top through long hours, working weekends, travel for work, and missing our children growing up, so be it.
Like it or not, Gen X workers will not be so accommodating. They are those latchkey kids who grew up pretty much on their own, very independent and self-reliant. That is not the life they want and they won’t work for a company that doesn’t value their need for life balance. If a promotion requires travel that means missing their children’s recitals and ball games, they’ll skip the promotion and the pay raise. Oh yes, and there must be FUN too! There will be less Gen Xers out there, so they can, and will be more demanding. If you thought Boomers questioned everything, just wait!
As this enormous shift in our population and our workforce occurs, human resources will simply not be business as usual. It will take education on the part of those in charge to learn about this new generation of workers. It will take training to get the most out of them and best utilize their talents.
