The Millenials, The Age Wave and How We Work

Date

Nov 16th, 2007 11:04am

Author

Eric Schubert

Category

Posted by Robin Krause, Vice President of Human Resources At Ecumen, like most companies, our workforce is made up of multiple generations. We often talk about the impact that 78 million baby boomers will have on the workforce as they age. Boomers make up the largest portion of Ecumen’s 4,000-member team, just over a quarter. But almost just as large are the Millennials, those born between 1980 and 1995. There are 80 million Millennials in the U.S. I enjoyed watching this recent 60 Minutes segment on the Millennials. Do you think its depiction of Millennials is accurate? Another question: Do you think the retirement of baby boomers is going to have a huge impact on the workplace, or do you think that is largely overblown? Share your thoughts. We’re developing a workforce planning tool that will break down the demographics of each of our work sites and allow us to model what the future will look like, especially as boomers hit their retirement years. Have you heard of companies that are examining what their demographic future is going to look like so that they can plan ahead and not find themselves short on experience and skills? We’d love to hear about such examples. If you’re ever looking for a speaker on this generational topic, I’d suggest checking out David Stillman, a generational expert, who we’re fortunate to have serving on our board of trustees. A Gen Xer, he’s a fantastic speaker and author of the book: When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Why They Clash. How to Solve the Generational Puzzle at Work.