What happens after the recession???

I was recently interviewed by a journalist who wanted to know what the short and long-term implications of the current recession will have on organizations and on baby boomers. I, of course, explained that the answer to this question is not a simple one. First, the recession has masked a much greater, and anticipated, problem; the mass retirement of the 80 million baby boomers.

This recession has deflated retirement accounts to the point where boomers now have to consider going back to work full time or delay retirement to recoup what has been lost. This, in a sense, has bought many companies some time in preparing for this loss. However, many organizations have continued to ignore this fact and consider it a non-issue. This may be a matter of habit as the last large generation to retire was followed by the largest generation in history, at the time.

There was never a disruption in the pipeline of quality replacement talent. The new generation, Milennial’s, is larger in size at approximately 90 million, however most will not enter the workforce for at least 15-20 years. What is an organization to do in the meantime? The focus should be on creating flexible work arrangements, altering benefits so that an employee does not max out at a certain age and is able to continue to earn “credits” and, most importantly, there needs to be a system of knowledge transfer in place.

No matter how smart or tech savvy this new generation is they lack the experience, relationships and core competencies that many boomers posses. As we come full circle in answering the question the important take-away is that in the short-term companies need to cut costs and continue to be productive but must do so in a manner that does not negatively impact the long-term success of the organization. Finally, incentivize your baby boomers to stay as long as you can, record and transfer as much knowledge as possible, take care of them because one day they may retire to an island someplace, or worse, go work for a competitor.