Posted on September 6, 2005

Civil Society

An estimated 76 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 are heading toward retirement, and by the time they all leave the workforce there will only be 48 million workers under age 40 in the U.S. This looming labor shortage and the changing demographics of the American workforce are the focus of The New Workforce Reality: Insights for Today, Implications for Tomorrow (32 pages, PDF), a joint study by the Boston-based Simmons School of Management and Bright Horizons Family Solutions in Watertown, Maine. According to the report, 85 percent of people entering the workforce in the near future will be women, people of color, and immigrants; younger workers will fill leadership positions at a faster rate than their predecessors; and employers will try to entice more mature workers to stay beyond retirement age. Of the more than two thousand adults surveyed, 95 percent said life outside of work is equally as important as work, and companies that support such balance retain more satisfied and productive employees.