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The demographic projections
are clear. By 2012, nearly 20% of the total U.S. workforce will be age 55 or
older, up from just under 13% in 20001. This growth in the number of older workers
reflects the fact that the population as a whole is getting older due to several
factors, including the aging of the Baby Boom generation, lower birth rates
for generations immediately following the baby boom, and longer life expectancies
As the 76-million Baby
Boom Generation nears traditional retirement age, many U.S. companies and governments
are facing a potentially significant loss of talent and institutional knowledge
across key areas, including leadership, sales, and technical disciplines. With
the pending retirement of the baby boomers – the first of whom will be
eligible for early Social Security benefits in 2008 – many analysts are
predicting growing labor shortages in tomorrow’s workforce. Indeed, many
employers in Arizona are already facing or anticipating shortages and are starting
to take steps to manage their workforce needs. In addition to the well-known
shortages of nurses and other health care professionals, many organizations
and systems that rely on specially trained individuals such as teachers, engineers,
and the like are also feeling the pressure of labor shortages.
In 2005, AARP conducted
a survey of human resource managers across the country and found that “58%
said that it is more difficult today than it was [just] five years ago to find
qualified job applicants. More than half of the HR managers believe that their
companies are likely to face a shortage of qualified workers within the next
five years.3” Many Arizona companies have expressed similar concerns,
with some companies facing the reality that as much as 50% of their workforce
will be eligible for retirement by 2010.
While the impact of this
undeniable trend will vary from industry to industry and among different job
categories, many companies will be able to avoid the drain by encouraging today’s
mature workers – those age 50 and over – to stay in the workforce
longer. Fortunately, research shows that many of today’s mature workers
want to work and want viable work options later in life. In a 2002 study by
AARP, 68% of workers between the ages of 50 and 70 who have not yet retired
said that they plan to work in some capacity into their retirement years or
perhaps never retire.4 In Arizona, the same is true. A 2002 study of older workers,
conducted by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging, found that 78%
of those surveyed were looking for employment, although only 36% were actually
employed. Thus, this raises several points of concern:
• Are businesses
willing and able to use mature workers?
• Can business models change to match the changing nature of the workforce?
• Do mature workers have the requisite skills for an ever-changing job
market?
• What role does government have in assisting business leaders and mature
workers to adjust to the changing nature of the workforce?
The Arizona Mature
Workforce Initiative
To address these concerns
and ensure that Arizona has both opportunities for older people to work and
remain self-sufficient throughout their lives, and to support business growth
and development across the state in light of an aging workforce, Governor Janet
Napolitano joined forces with AARP to launch the Arizona Mature Workforce Initiative
in February 2005. The Mature Workforce Initiative (MWI) is designed to raise
visibility, awareness, appreciation of and employment opportunities for mature
workers, while addressing labor force shortages in the business sector. In addition,
the MWI aims to provide mature workers with new points of access to training
that will allow them to remain competitive in the job market and to provide
them connections to employers who value their experience. By developing a healthy
exchange of ideas and dialog among the mature workforce, business and industry,
government, and their local communities, we are able to ensure meaningful employment
opportunities for mature workers and provide businesses with the ability to
address at least some of the impact of an aging workforce.
Building on the work of
the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging’s Mature Worker Committee
(formerly the Older Workers Task Force), established approximately six years
ago, several key activities have been undertaken since the February 2005 launch
of the Arizona Mature Workforce Initiative (MWI) including:
1. Increasing awareness
about the changing nature of Arizona’s workforce, and the role of the
mature worker in the labor force of the future;
2. Collection and compilation of data about the mature workforce;
3. Branding of the initiative through development of the Mature Worker logo
and slogan;
4. Increasing employment opportunities of mature workers; and
5. Hosting 3 regional invitational Arizona Summits on the Mature Workforce.
The Summits brought together more than 250 executive level business and industry
leaders from all sectors of the community, and more than 50 mature workers
of all professional and socio-economic backgrounds, to explore the identified
obstacles and discuss possible solutions and actions needed. The outcome of
the Summits is a set of recommendations for action for the Governor’s
consideration.
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