An entry in WorkplaceFairness.org's blog cites reporting by workplace commentator Bob Rosner, who, in his own "Revenge of the Employees" blog posting, speculates that a massive labor shortage brought about by the slow but sure workplace demographic shift from the Baby Boomer generation to Gen-Xers will ultimately transform the balance of power in the workplace to create more worker-friendly environments.
According to Rosner, the ratio of 76 million Baby Boomers to only 44 million Gen-Xers translates to an economy where 32 million workers are thinking "more about weekends and Winnebagos that work." The author goes on to argue that, "As we go from a buyers' market (the employers have most of the clout) to a sellers' market (where employees have more leverage), we'll have a remarkable opportunity to create a better workplace."
What's your take on this clearly long-term trend? Do you see a window of opportunity for businesses' older leaders – with their possibly antiquated employee engagement methods – to be replaced by a younger, hipper-to-employees'-needs demographic? Or do you think leaders through the generations will begin incorporating more worker-friendly policies just by osmosis of what works for leading organizations in their field, regardless of their age or generation label?
— Winning Workplaces, June 07, 2006 | Add your thoughts
Comments:
As a project-based employers, Pierson Consulting Company, Inc. rely on our retiree workforce to be competent, consistent, flexible and hard working when we are in the midst of staff intensive projects. When we don’t have project work, our retirees are happy to take time off to vacation, golf, spend time with grandchildren, etc. We are careful to allow our older generation of workers the flexibility to take time off during projects to care for aging parents, go to medical appointments, etc. We find that the benefit of having a dedicated and flexible workforce more than compensates for the time we spend scheduling these workers. PCCi finds our baby boomer workers to be a win-win for both the company and the worker!
— Debra, March 14, 2007
Debra, it sounds like Pierson is among the progressive organizations who view mature workers as resources in terms of enhancing the overall knowledge base, work culture and mentorship capabilities. And your flexible model harkens to a boutique law firm we recently covered, Reno & Cavanaugh. You might also read with interest the results of a survey we did in February 2007 of about a third of our Best Bosses on the topic of the impact of a demographer-predicted shortage of workers in traditional age ranges on their workplaces.
You've been entered in our "Blog and Bag a Book" drawing for March 2007. Good luck!
— Winning Workplaces, March 14, 2007