Employers urged to
begin preparing for
void left by retiring
baby boomers
One of the biggest challenges facing employers nationwide is how they will find enough skilled labor to replace the generation of baby boomers who are beginning to retire in increasing numbers.
Employers need to start facing the skills shortage problem now while there's still time, or they eventually will suffer serious consequences in productivity or even survival, according to Stacey Jarrett Wagner, director of the education and training arm of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Manufacturers.
Jarrett, who spoke at the Hawaii Employers Council annual meeting yesterday, said a lack of people coming into the work force to replace those leaving will create not only a decline in college or post-secondary educated workers but those with other specialized work skills.
Even though Wagner's own manufacturing industry has seen 2.7 million of its jobs go offshore, it will still face serious shortages and already is having trouble attracting younger people. The same can be said of many other industries, she said.
The biggest issue has become how to solve the coming crisis, she said.
"Where will the skilled workers come from? We believe we'll have to fight for those workers because everyone will be fighting for them," she said.
While there is always the option of more immigrant labor, those workers still have to be trained, she said. Moreover, many arrive in the United States with little English, few work skills and are often illiterate in their own language, she said.
"So how do we upskill them?" she asked.
"It's more than just a worker crisis. Globalization and technology has changed the way business is done," she said.
Some industries already have started working on their own strategies for growth, Wagner said.
For example, in the construction industry, employers are working to develop sets of skill standards to show what is needed and expected for various positions.
Even the Army has a computer video where people already in the Army talk about their jobs and the types of things they do.
More needs to be done at the legislative level to make training and education programs seamless and bring everyone involved together instead of continuing with the current patchwork approach, Wagner said.
Another corporate development has been the advent of the so-called "chief learning officer," she said. Employers are now assigning an individual to assess what is needed in human capital.
For example, while Delta Air Lines Inc., like many others in the industry, has scaled back its work force, it now has someone assigned to that position whose job it is to make sure its work force is not only trained and retained, but has a better understanding of its business. The company has started business literacy courses for all its employees so they understand the business challenges faced by the company, she said.
For giant defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., the challenge is that all its welders are now beginning to retire. The company has partnered with vocational schools, has contributed money to develop training facilities and is creating apprenticeships to meet the problem.
Within the federal government there are now recruitment problems. But every agency will eventually have a "chief human capital officer" whose job it will be to look at what kind of skills the government needs and then develop ways to train and retain its work force.
Hawaii will be facing similar challenges in the future to other states, Wagner said.
"Don't be surprised if you won't be facing the same kind of thing in the future," she said. "Now is a good time to think about what to do about the work force."
