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As the baby boom generation begins to reach its mid-50's, the median age of the American workforce continues to rise. By 2010 in Massachusetts, persons 45 and older will account for an all-time high of two-fifths of those holding or needing jobs. Many of these people will be looking for new employment due to layoffs or insufficient retirement income, and many others will be women entering the workforce for the first time after years of homemaking.
A major obstacle for older job-seekers is their current skill level. Most are coming from positions that didn't require technological skills. Many are in need of training in numerous domains, from writing resumes and impressing interviewers to using modern office equipment, which require both classroom training and "hands-on" experience.
To conduct research and develop strategies regarding these older workforce issues, the Massachusetts Jobs Council established the Blue Ribbon Commission on Older Workers in 1997. The Commission, chaired by former U.S. secretary of labor and Harvard professor John T. Dunlop, and including UMass President William Bulger as well as James Jennings of UMass Boston's Trotter Institute, among others, will release a report entitled "Older Workers: An Essential Resource for Massachusetts" before the end of this year. The research was begun by Professor Scott Bass of the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston and was later taken over and completed by UMass Boston Economics Professor David Terkla and Professors Peter Doeringer of Boston University and Andrew Sum of Northeastern University.
According to Professor Terkla, the report began by focusing on how to train and employ older workers in the next few years to meet an expected labor demand, but has now evolved into a comprehensive statewide workforce development plan. Terkla explains, "It's not only in the employer's best interest to develop training programs, but the state's as well. If you project into the future and age the current workforce, you have plenty of teens, but there's a gap in the twenties. A lot of manufacturing firms that aren't seeing much employment growth right now and aren't projected to, are facing an aging workforce with massive retirements imminent. They don't have people coming up in near the numbers they had before. So, they either have to hold onto existing workers, or be able to replace them."
It's not only manufacturing firms that face labor supply shortages. The fast food and service industries that rely on the 20's age group may also suffer. "The younger population is smaller," Terkla states. "The jobs are set up with younger populations' schedules and physical needs in mind. Our argument is 'you had better wake up, because that's not where your workforce is going to be coming from in the future.'"
One of the main proposals in the report centers on state subsidizing of training programs conducted in small businesses for older workers. The Commission proposes that the Commonwealth help small businesses develop training pools from which workers can be hired. Terkla points out that some hi-tech organizations are doing that now, but that these organizations will always be able to obtain workers. "It's the small businesses that we are concerned about, the ones that don't have the time and resources for training." One resource the Commonwealth can tap into is community colleges, some of which are already working with large industries to provide classes at places of employment. More funding is needed for community college involvement with smaller employers.
Terkla believes that if small business advocacy groups realize that they have a problem and push for legislative action, progress can be made in countering the employment and economic problems the state's aging workforce will face in the coming years. This would also help to provide a secure labor supply with which the Commonwealth could remain competitive with other states.
Professor Terkla is quick to point out that Massachusetts should not be the only state giving careful consideration to employment issues surrounding the baby boom generation. But with the Blue Ribbon Commission's report to the Jobs Council, Terkla and his fellow authors are saying, "Make Massachusetts the 'workforce development state.' Let's lead the way."