Survey: Businesses Not Ready for Aging Workforce

 

March 13, 2007 -- More than a quarter of U.S. businesses have not adequately prepared for the shift in workforce demographics when baby boomers begin to retire over the next 10 years, according to a survey by researchers at Boston College.

In a survey of 570 businesses nationwide, only 33 percent of employers said they had made even moderate projections about the retirement rates of their workers in the years ahead, while 37 percent said they had adopted strategies to encourage late career employees to delay retirement.

"Companies that do not plan for this aging workforce may find themselves suddenly faced with a loss of labor, experience, and expertise that will be difficult to offset," Mick Smyer, co-director of the Boston College Center on Aging and Work, said in a statement.

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