The Great Retirement: Are Baby Boomers causing today's hiring shortage?

The onslaught of COVID-19 has brought many challenges for the workforce and employers. While organizations had to move remote almost overnight, the effects of the pandemic are still visible across the value chain.

For instance, there has been an increase in the number of baby boomers retiring after the pandemic's start. According to Pew Research Center, a massive 29 million baby boomers retired in 2020, up from 26 million in 2019. The trend of The Great Retirement is expected to overshadow The Great Resignation, with 75 million baby boomers retiring by 2030.

Here is all you need to know about The Great Retirement:

How will the retirement of baby boomers affect the workforce?

It is important to understand that close to 41 million total employees in the US are baby boomers. This translates to one in four employees being from this generation. As many baby boomers are expected to move out of the workforce in the next few years, it can leave a large gap to be filled. The critical part here is that this trend of mass retirement will affect top-level positions as baby boomers have a colossal working experience, and organizations will find it tough to find competent talent to fill the roles being emptied.

Why are baby boomers retiring early?

Before we understand what can be done to address this shortage, it is important to know why the shortage is occurring in the first place. After the impact of COVID-19, the baby boomers generation fell into the segment most vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic.

After working for more than a few decades, the pandemic forced baby boomers to think about the work-life balance and how they wanted to spend the remaining years of their lives. After the pandemic has subsided, the baby boomers are relooking at their work-life balance and trying to evaluate their relationship with work compared to their family, friends, and hobbies.

What can be done to address this shortage?

 As baby boomers are planning to move out of the workforce a few years earlier than expected, it is an excellent opportunity for employers to invest in the next generation of talent and nurture them to take these roles to drive growth.

Here is how you can attract and retain young talent in the organization:

Offer flexibility

The pandemic has made flexible workspace a new basic requirement for employees. To retain and attract young talent to the organization, it is important to offer flexibility to your employees to have a better work-life balance.

The flexibility can be about working from home, flexible work timings, or performance on results, not on the hours clocked. Depending on your end goals and expectation of employees, a flexible work environment should be built that helps to retain valuable employees who do not have to choose between work and family.

Focus on reskilling and upskilling

The Gen-Z workers who are expected to replace baby boomers do not have the same years of experience. At the same time, the changing global business ecosystem and technological advancements make it necessary to use reskilling and upskilling programs for the workforce.

Emphasize mentoring, not managing

Gone are the days when you needed a manager to manage people. The current generation of workers demands mentoring more than managing, mentoring support is required to ensure that all pieces of the puzzle come together.

These steps must be used to ensure that the organization can retain and attract young talent. As many baby boomers will be out of the workforce in the next few years, it is the right time to invest in setting the contours of your initiatives to get the next generations ready for the challenge.

You can use Cogent Staffing solutions to overcome from this shortage.

FAQs

What is the period in which baby boomers will retire?

The retirement window for baby boomers started in 2011 and is expected to go on till 2030. As approximately 10,000 baby boomers will hit retirement age each day during this period, millions of baby boomers will retire from the workforce.

Are baby boomers delaying retirement?

No. After the pandemic and its effects were noticed, a large part of the baby boomers population is expected to retire in the next few years.

‍