Everybody in the United States knows the demographics are changing rapidly, and there are more older people than there are younger people, and that the average age of the US citizen is getting higher every year. Even with the massive inflows of new Hispanic citizens and their rapid birth rates, America is still aging rapidly. Many industries that I am familiar with have already been hit very hard, and it is said that the average age of aerospace engineer is 59 1/2 years of age.
Worse, the new recruits to the industry who will be replacing these engineers have not even started university level engineering school yet. Who will replace these engineers in the aerospace sector? And it isn't as if we will not need these aerospace engineers due to technology, or have a repeat of the past when slide rules were out and computers were able to increase the productivity of aerospace engineers tenfold. Even if we believe that artificial intelligent computers will be designing tomorrow's aircraft, we will still need people to run those computers, test those designs, and actually build the prototypes.
But, I must tell you it's not just the aviation industry or aerospace sector which is going to be challenged in the future. Even the currently fast moving alternative energy industry cannot seem to get enough solid engineers right now, and we surely have an issue with our up-and-coming generation with regards to their educational expertise in math and science. Likewise, we are pushing the envelope on new technologies, such as hypersonic aircraft, new lightweight nano-materials, and the future of space exploration.
Now then, I have a question for you; we know the workforce demographics are changing and I wonder if your company is ready. And I am not the first person to ask this question. A very interesting business article on this topic was in Harvard Business Review on February 2008 in their Tool Kit Section starting on page 119 and finishing up on page 128. The title of the article was "Managing Demographic Risk; An Aging Workforce will compel businesses to change how they operate and could even threaten some companies' viability. How vulnerable is your business?" By Rainer Strack, Jens Baier, and Anders Fahlander.
In this article the author's use compelling statistics, and ask corporate executives if they are aware and are planning for this potential eventuality. The reality is most companies, even very large corporations are not ready, and yet they are planning out their futures 10 years in advance, without realizing the incredible costs involved for recruiting such scarce talent.
It is true that people are living longer and they will be able to work longer, having the same expertise, however many will be exiting the market place and choose not to work further, and instead go for their pension and retirement or an early buyout and Golden parachute deal.
This article noted that "Workers over age 50 will make up more than half of the workforce by 2011; and close to 80% by 2018," so that is a serious issue for growing companies especially those who compete sectors. Consider if you will professions like electricians, engineers, builders, information technology, aviation, high-tech manufacturing, bankers, and such. If you are planning for the future, you better be thinking about the cost of training for these specialties, any additional cost of recruiting and keeping this workforce from moving to a competitor's company.
Facing talent attrition situations? Talk to our talent management & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Click here. A viral marketing activity for smes by Scotts Digital.Worse, the new recruits to the industry who will be replacing these engineers have not even started university level engineering school yet. Who will replace these engineers in the aerospace sector? And it isn't as if we will not need these aerospace engineers due to technology, or have a repeat of the past when slide rules were out and computers were able to increase the productivity of aerospace engineers tenfold. Even if we believe that artificial intelligent computers will be designing tomorrow's aircraft, we will still need people to run those computers, test those designs, and actually build the prototypes.
But, I must tell you it's not just the aviation industry or aerospace sector which is going to be challenged in the future. Even the currently fast moving alternative energy industry cannot seem to get enough solid engineers right now, and we surely have an issue with our up-and-coming generation with regards to their educational expertise in math and science. Likewise, we are pushing the envelope on new technologies, such as hypersonic aircraft, new lightweight nano-materials, and the future of space exploration.
Now then, I have a question for you; we know the workforce demographics are changing and I wonder if your company is ready. And I am not the first person to ask this question. A very interesting business article on this topic was in Harvard Business Review on February 2008 in their Tool Kit Section starting on page 119 and finishing up on page 128. The title of the article was "Managing Demographic Risk; An Aging Workforce will compel businesses to change how they operate and could even threaten some companies' viability. How vulnerable is your business?" By Rainer Strack, Jens Baier, and Anders Fahlander.
In this article the author's use compelling statistics, and ask corporate executives if they are aware and are planning for this potential eventuality. The reality is most companies, even very large corporations are not ready, and yet they are planning out their futures 10 years in advance, without realizing the incredible costs involved for recruiting such scarce talent.
It is true that people are living longer and they will be able to work longer, having the same expertise, however many will be exiting the market place and choose not to work further, and instead go for their pension and retirement or an early buyout and Golden parachute deal.
This article noted that "Workers over age 50 will make up more than half of the workforce by 2011; and close to 80% by 2018," so that is a serious issue for growing companies especially those who compete sectors. Consider if you will professions like electricians, engineers, builders, information technology, aviation, high-tech manufacturing, bankers, and such. If you are planning for the future, you better be thinking about the cost of training for these specialties, any additional cost of recruiting and keeping this workforce from moving to a competitor's company.
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