A Generational Divide: Challenge and Response

Summary form only given. Demographic and economic forces are converging in ways that are rapidly reshaping the United States workforce. After decades of downsizing and "right sizing"- combined with the effects of off-shoring, a tech "bubble," national security issues, and shifts in corporate culture-expectations for stable careers and long-term relationships with employers have diminished. At the same time, a "2010 meltdown" of the workforce, with massive numbers of baby boomers retiring, looms in the near future. This presentation explores a new workplace in which those with high level skills will be encouraged to work beyond traditional retirement, at the same time employers will be under significant pressure to recruit a new generation skeptical of old psychological work contracts. It suggests approaches to enhancing employee employers engagement, planning for succession, creating a multigenerational workplace, and recruiting "millennials."