What If Boomer Don’t Retire?

The question is being asked often these days. “What Happens to Business if the Boomers Don’t Retire?” is the theme of an opinion column by Robert W. Wendover, director of The Center for Generational Studies of Aurora, Colorado.

Wendover writes … Much has been made of shrinking Baby Boomer assets over the past few months. The Utopian dream of retiring at 55 to the yacht and charity work appears out of touch for the foreseeable future. Like it or not, many in this generation allowed their ambitions to get ahead of reality and, in the process, find themselves readjusting their sights. This generation has been famous for their ability for rationalize unfortunate realities and create euphemisms to support these flights of fancy. The terms re-careering and encore careers come to mind.

But there is more to the equation than just Baby Boomers and their money woes. Regardless of their financial position, most Boomers are reluctant to leave the workforce. While income plays a role, there is also the fact that many in this generation have tied what they do for a living to their identity as a person. Introduce yourself to a Boomer and chances are he or she will include a job title in the first few seconds of conversation. Assemble a few of them at a gathering and they’ll find a way to talk shop. Outplacement counselors know that one of the biggest hurdles for Boomers in transition is to let go of the identity they are clinging to based on a former role. An impending retirement presents them with some of this same trepidation.

Additionally, Boomers have tended to use their work environment as a source for building and maintaining a social life. There’s the annual holiday party, the summer barbeque, the company sporting events and the monthly trade association meetings where 50-somethings take turns being volunteer leaders. Retirement can be the perfect storm, loss of income, loss of identity, loss of social circle. Why not remain in a role that is comfortable, reassuring and pays for the first and second mortgages?

But while Boomers are planning to inhabit their jobs for an extra ten years, it is the organizations for which they work that are now facing a dilemma of epic proportions. Businesses have long supposed, understandably, that the Boomers would reach a certain age and begin their slow transition into retirement. The previous generation took the gold watch, the pension, a few office supplies and headed to the basement workshop and the local golf course to putter around. But Boomers do not seem inclined to do so.

This, of course, has thrown a wrench into all the suppositions made by those in charge of strategic planning, succession planning, and other kinds of planning. What happens when the most expensive, longest tenured, most experienced, and, some would say, most devoted contributors won’t, or can’t, leave their positions? What happens to the emerging generation of leaders and managers who discover that the people to whom they report won’t be departing any time soon? And what happens to the generation of workers after them? Is the US workforce headed for a multi-generational train wreck within organizations large and small?

Those now in their thirties and forties began entering the workforce just as the Boomers assumed many of the management and leadership roles to which they now cling. While those in this so-called Generation X assumed that things would continue to move apace, they have run head-long into people 20 years their senior who have little, if any plan to leave until age 70.

So what does an organization do when the positions everyone assumed would be vacated in the next few years remain occupied for an additional decade? What do the rising professionals do when it becomes apparent that there’s no room for promotion? The second question is easier to answer than the first. These young people leave, taking with them thousands of dollars worth of training and experience.

As the economy continues to cycle, organizations will resolve some of this situation through downsizing, right-sizing, or whatever one wishes to call it. But this will only address a small part of a much larger issue. Firms nationwide will need to come to grips with the critical challenges of succession planning, training and development, knowledge transfer and the retention of younger workers who view their jobs as contracts, not careers. How can room be made for the new young hires so essential to the continued success of any venture? How can those within the Baby Boom be successfully encouraged to share the knowledge and expertise they possess without feeling vulnerable if they do? How can organizations promote partnerships between emerging leaders and the veteran contributors who have so much to share? Finally, how can organizations plan strategically for a workforce transition that will be far different from the one that was expected and a departure from those of the past?

Rather than viewing older Boomers as an anchor on productivity and an obstacle to workforce transition, progressive leaders will need to work proactively to find the balance between valuing the veteran contributors and fostering the growth and retention of those following in their footsteps. It won’t be easy. Stay tuned.

Tags: baby boomer retirement, Robert W. Wendover

Category: Baby Boomers, Retirement