Aging Workforce, Health Care Top Issues in SHRM Workplace Forecast 2008
Jennifer Schramm
Society for Human Resource Management, June 2008
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) published a workplace forecast summary this year, compiling the issues that human resource professionals think will impact the workplace in the upcoming few years. Over 1200 randomly selected HR professionals' responses make up the data contained in the report.
The report is broken down into six sections, demographics & society, economics & employment, global issues, politics & law, science & technology, and the human resource profession, and the trends that are most likely to affect the workplace are listed and explored, as are possible actions in response to said trends.
Overwhelming present in the report was a concern about the aging population. We are reaching a time with the baby boomer generation will all retire, thus leaving a hole in the workforce.
Additionally, there is an increased concern surrounding health care. Whoever our new president is will most likely drastically change the way federally funded health care is structured, as well as state health care legislation. The current increasing prices of health care may prove to be too much for many employers to continue offering these benefits to employees.
Economic issues are now becoming more closely tied with global issues; what happens in one area of the world can now be felt in all areas. The value of the US dollar is decreasing and the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China—are anticipated to soon surpass the United States in terms of economy.
Another large concern for the upcoming years is the preparedness of new entrants into the workforce. New workers have fewer skills than older workers, and it is becoming more difficult to retain skilled employees.
The SHRM report also suggests actions to take in order to combat these issues. Most recommended are actions such as offering tuition reimbursement to employees and investing more in training and development, specifically in new technology.
There are many trends emerging in the workplace and the SHRM Workplace Forecast realizes that it may not be possible to respond to all at once. Prioritizing is necessary. SHRM suggests that it is most important to focus on leadership development and managing talent.
