There is no question that the demographics of our workforce are changing. Since its peak after World War II, world population growth has been steadily declining, such that we now see near zero growth rate in the global labour force (Henson 2002). While over the last 40 years countries such as China, India, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa were doubling their working age populations, predictions over the coming 40 years are that we will see negative growth in the labor pool in most countries outside of India. What labor growth we do see in North America will be primarily through immigration.

The global workforce is not only getting smaller, it’s also getting older. People are living longer and working longer. The young people entering the workforce today expect to work well into their retirement and stay actively employed into their 70’s and 80’s. While many will “want to work’ in retirement, with the reduction in government and privately funded pension programs, many will “have to work” in spite of retirement.

With the global workforce shrinking and with people living and working longer, we are now experiencing four generations working side-by-side in the workplace — Veterans, Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, and the New Millennials (also sometimes called Gen Y) — a phenomenon never seen before. And, as we all know too well, each generation brings its own world view, economic outlook, work ethic, views on authority, relationships, job expectations, compensation, etc. which can often create conflict across the generations. The following chart highlights many of the salient differences across these four generations.

Multi-Generational Differences

By some estimates, Baby Boomers make up close to 50% of workforce today and most of middle and upper management. In the coming five to ten years, 75% of the Boomers will be retiring, leaving behind the much smaller Generation X, half the size of the Boomers, to lead our organizations (Henson 2006). This mass exodus of mid and top management will create both opportunities and challenges for the succeeding generations. HR has a significant role to play in helping to manage this transition through effective workforce, talent development, and succession planning.

Another key challenge for HR is in the development of methods and processes to attract, retain, engage, motivate, compensate, develop, and sustain workers across generations who have disparate interests, motivations, and aspirations for what they expect from the employer-employee relationship. Tomorrow we’ll talk about some of the development and mentoring opportunities HR can initiate to more effectively manage the needs of these disparate populations.

Suggestions for Additional Reading:

Strack, Rainer, Jens Baier, and Anders Fahlander. 2008. “Managing Demographic Risk.” Harvard Business Review. Feburary 2008.

Jones, Katherine. 2007. “New Demographics in the Global Workforce.” IHRIM Journal. Volume XI. Number 1. pp. 28-32.

Henson, Row. 2002. “HR in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities.” IHRIM Journal. Volume VI. Number 6. pp. 28-32.