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Talent Talk: The Labor Shortage Is About to Get a Whole Lot Worse
Baby boomers added 25 million workers to the labor force during a 10-year period. Compare that with the six to seven million expected to be added over the next 10 years.
Paul Sturgeon
November 4, 2024
2 Min Read
Over the next eight years, the US population will outpace growth in the labor force by eight to one.kali9/iStock via Getty Images
This is the fourth and final part of a series that is looking five to 10 years ahead in the manufacturing labor market. We started with a historical perspective on how we got here from the end of World War II. Part three brought us up to present-day demographics, where the baby boomer generation now makes up just 15% of the workforce and is declining every day. Over the next eight years, the US population will outpace growth in the labor force by eight to one.
Unemployment still low despite weak jobs report
If you saw the weak jobs report that came out on Nov. 1, you might be wondering if I am on the same planet. Remember: We are looking ahead, and even with the anemic report, the unemployment rate did not go up. In Florida we recently had two significant hurricanes, which also affected many other states, but we had some great weather right before that. You need to know what is coming to properly prepare.
Why the labor shortage is getting worse
Consider that the baby boomers added 25 million workers to the labor force over the 10-year period of the 1970s. Contrast that with the six to seven million expected to be added over the next 10 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We are going to have a major labor shortage that will have us looking back fondly at 2022, when we had two job openings for every available worker.
What can we do as a nation? There are some big-picture things above my pay grade that we will need to consider involving immigration, automation, birth rates, and retirement age.
Survival strategies
What can companies do to prepare for this?
The days of labor abundance are gone. Adopt what I call a “healthy scarcity” mindset where you look for reasons to screen people in, not screen them out.
Open up job specifications where you can and fill in the gaps with training.
Re-evaluate concepts like pay equity. If you think overpaying people is expensive, trying to pay below the market can be devastating.
Avoid layoffs when business is slow. Consider other ways to utilize workers during temporary slow seasons, and look at things like re-training or cross-training.
How Does Your Salary Stack Up?
Curious how your salary stacks up? We’ve broken down five salary tiers—from entry-level to top earners—for nine key engineering roles in plastic product manufacturing. Find out exactly where you stand compared to industry peers!
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