According to the AARP, By 2010 One in Three Workers Will be Over the Age of 50
| According to the AARP, By 2010 One in Three Workers Will be Over the Age of 50 |
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In Rhode Island, state Department of Labor and Training director Sandra Powell said labor force projections for 2015 predict the highest rate of growth -- 31.4 percent -- will take place among workers 55 to 64. The youngest segment of the work force, between 16 and 24, is projected to grow only 4.9 percent. According to a 2005 study by AARP, three demographic factors are converging to account for the trend: the population as a whole is aging, labor shortages are projected in a number of economic sectors, and many workers intend to continue working beyond traditional retirement age. Recently, the state chapter of the AARP, in cooperation with Providence Business News, held a seminar at the Providence Marriott Downtown to stress ways that companies should use the experience, knowledge and maturity of older workers as a competitive advantage. At the same time, speakers worked to dispel some of the negative stereotypes concerning older workers -- that they are anxious to leave, have trouble learning new skills and will drive up health care costs. The keynote speaker was Edwin A. Redfern Jr., national program consultant for the AARP Workforce Issues Team in Washington, D.C., who pointed out that the leading edge of the baby boom generation, which comprises about 48 percent of the American workforce, turned 62 this year. If all the baby boomers simply retired when they hit 65, or even earlier, he said, it would be a major disruptive force on the economy. But many baby boomers will work longer, Redfern said, partly because they want to and partly because sources of retirement income, such as pension plans, are less secure than they once were. Listing the employment factors that are important to retaining aging boomers, Redfern cited health care, retirement benefits, more flexible working arrangements and the opportunity to learn something new. Brandon Melton, senior vice-president of human resources for the Lifespan hospital system, was a member of the panel whose members spoke after Redfern's presentation. Melton said the health care industry, already feeling a labor shortage in areas such as nursing, was looking for "win-win" opportunities. In a pilot program, he said, four older nurses spent part of their work week teaching nursing at CCRI. Melton said this had the benefit of both easing the physical demands of the job for the nurses and helping them prepare a younger generation to join the workforce. Nancy Roderick, human resources manager for Concordia Fibers and Concordia Medical, which recently moved to a new facility in Warwick, said the company's decision to enter the medical field meant considerable retraining of a loyal, dedicated workforce that had plenty of "finger smarts" but not a lot of formal education. Now that the workforce, with an average age of 47, has been retrained, she said, the new challenge is transferring that knowledge to new workers. Several speakers at the seminar spoke of the older worker as a walking repository of valuable knowledge that shouldn't just disappear, even when the workers themselves walk out the door. "A lot depends on the organizational culture of the organization," said Anthony Wheeler, assistant professor of human resources management at URI. "If a culture doesn't value knowledge, they will just let it bleed out." Wheeler said the costs of replacing and retraining a worker can run from 70 percent to 200 percent of that employee's annual salary, which is an incentive for companies to keep their experienced employee. Melton said that Lifespan uses numerous mentorship programs between older and younger employees -- although he pointed out that the mentorships are not a one-way street. Sometimes younger employees mentor their senior colleagues. And while there is much talk in human resource circles about the challenges of managing different generations in the same workplace, Melton said he doesn't see as many generational differences as some of his colleagues. |
