As we witness radical shifts in the United States and global economy, an obvious question is whether this is one manifestation of the generational earthquake predicted to occur as large numbers of Baby Boomers retired and were replaced in leadership by Generation Xers and in the workplace by Millennials. This shift in generations is an important issue for governments, organizations and for human resources (for example, you may be interested in the recent report on global aging by the AARP Forum on the Future Workplace). However, recent reports suggest that the problem may not be as severe as originally thought. According to Bryan Baldwin, at his excellent blog HR Tests, the Partnership for Public Service has reported that the federal government has reported fewer retirements than originally projected and the government has adjusted future retirement projections downward.
I suppose this proves that it is always difficult to predict the future, which means organizations should plan for a variety of future contingencies and continue to develop all of their employees regardless of age. While it is important to be aware of generational differences, it is also important that we not stereotype individuals. Within any generational cohort, there are large differences between and among individuals. In addition, a number of studies have found that age and career stage differences are more important than generational differences (i.e., it is logical that Baby Boomers as they approach retirement would be more concerned with Medicare issues than with Pregnancy Coverage).
In future blogs, we hope to return to this issue of the shift in the demographics of the workforce. However, for now, we would urge those in human resources to not get too caught up in generational war imagery, but to consider each person in terms of their own unique strengths and attributes and continue to strive to develop and treat each employee with dignity.
