By: Deborah Johnson Wood
How do West Michigan businesses prepare now for the wave of Baby Boomers that will retire in the next five to ten years, taking all their knowledge, skills, and expertise with them? Will there be enough young professionals to fill those very vacant shoes? And where are those young professionals?
Those questions and more will be raised, and potential solutions will be offered, during Coming of Ages: From Baby Boomers to Generation Y, one of three presentations at next week's 11th annual West Michigan Economic Outlook conference in Grand Rapids.
"Our workforce isn't growing at a pace that can keep up with the 70s, 80s, and 90s," says George Bosnjak of the Right Place, Inc. "By 2010, 51.4 percent of the national workforce will be over 40. In a few years, whole sections of companies will be retiring and there aren't enough young professionals to fill those jobs and keep the company running.
"Some options may be to keep boomers on longer, provide better mentoring for the young professionals coming in, and make sure the knowledge transfer is as complete as it can be," Bosnjak adds.
"The loss of the knowledge is a huge, huge issue," Bosnjak says. "I just worked with a company of 500 employees, half of those are over 51. That company is going to lose half its workforce in the next 10 to 15 years."
The conference takes place December 13 from 7:30 AM to 10 AM in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Ambassador Ballroom. Click here for more information.
Source: George Bosnjak, The Right Place, Inc.
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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