The IT industry approached the millennium under threat
of the Y2K “bomb,” yet was able to defuse it
in time for the first of January, 2000. But another time-bomb
has been ticking for some time now, one which holds more
far-reaching implications than Y2K. Some experts are calling
it the “Age Wave:” the en-masse retirement of
millions of people worldwide within the next 20 years. The
social and economic implications of this age-wave are staggering.
Like most industries, the IT industry better start adjusting
to
these changes now. The first ranks of the baby-boomer
generation began to turn 60 on January 1, 2006.
The Challenge
According to statistics from the US Census Bureau, nearly
25 percent of the United State’s population — 86
million people — will be over 60 by 2025 and eligible
for retirement. For Canada, the projected percentage is
28, for China 20, and it is more than 30 percent for many
European countries.
Two issues are converging to become an unprecedented global
challenge for society and economy:
1) In developed countries, people born after WWII enter
the retirement age at a time when birth rates are falling
and life expectancy is growing, placing tremendous pressure
on the economies of the developed world. The previous economic
model of the industrial era, i.e. Retirement at a prescribed
age, is no longer viable (or desirable, for that matter).
To ride the wave of this massive shift, new economic models
and attitudes are necessary. Societies, individuals and businesses
need to face the reality that there will be a shortage of
young working people able
to support their retirement-age cohorts.
2) There is a growing shift in attitude in that many professionals
of retirement age are not in retirement mood anyways. Many
may need or want to work (and are able to), but want to do
it in their own terms. Corporations need to devise strategies
to prevent loss of expertise through forced retirement, and
become innovative in the realm of retaining and engaging
this aging workforce
The Opportunity (and more challenges…)
Information technology, still perceived as the domain of
young geeks and dot com types, will have to quickly embrace
this looming demographic reality, while helping other industries
do the same. From a business perspective, this is seen
in progressive IT companies as an opportunity. Yet to capitalize
on it, these companies must prepare to “practice
what they preach.”
Retirement is already being replaced with other options.
It is becoming much more common, for example, for a company
to retain an employee past retirement age in their current
position, to retrain them for new assignments, or to offer
them part-time or on-call consulting work. This means that
older workers will work alongside their younger colleagues
- nothing exactly new.
Yet never before has there been a
technological and cultural divide between generations as
deep as the one we are witnessing at this time. Young people
entering the workforce this decade have been raised in
an environment absolutely inundated with technology, and
using
this technology is second nature to them. This generation
is expected to embrace future advances without any reserve
or difficulty. Some mature workers (and those in IT are
no exception) are likely to not have the same readiness and
may tend to stick with older ways of doing things. Another challenge is that a mature workforce may be more
difficult to manage. Unlike the young set, expectations in
terms of physical and cognitive abilities of people past
their prime need to be considered. At 70 years of age, for
example, some may retain most of their abilities, but others
may retain fewer. Work will have to be designed so that people
with poor eyesight, declining motor ability or memory that
is not that reliable anymore, can still perform. This poses
a particular challenge in the IT industry, where products
and processes seem to be designed with the young generation
in mind, people with eyes not yet tired by tiny fonts, agile
hands able to precisely position pointers on tiny icons,
and sharp memories.
Inter-generational frictions are a potential challenge.
Older workers not willing to adapt to new paradigms and to “unlearn” certain
things, or who have simply lost interest and enthusiasm for
their work, may be difficult to work with or resist passing
along their expertise. On the other hand, younger workers
may have to curb hostility towards older workers who are
perceived to hinder progress and implementation of new ideas.
All this aside, it is also a wonderful potential for young
and old alike to work alongside each other in a shifting
paradigm. Mentoring, coaching and offering hard-won life
experience is a gift that that an aging worker can give to
their younger colleagues.
For now…
While many companies and governments are waking up to the
reality of an aging workforce and are planning for it,
right now the old paradigm still operates: the bottom line
is what counts most, and the surest way to cut costs is
to reduce the workforce. The most expensive workers (i.e.
the mature ones) are often still the first to be let go,
or motivated to retire – no matter how good their
record or attitude on the job, or whether they are ready
to go yet. But it may be just a matter of years when this
practice will be re-oriented towards finding ways to keep
an aging work force employed. The future is gray – get
used to it!
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