Baby Boomers and Their Effect on the Workplace.

         The picture of an exuberant, out to save the world, shaggy headed rebellious young adult was the iconic image of the Baby Boom generation.

          While that portrayal wasn't completely accurate at that time it is totally out of date these days. This legendarly huge group of Americans finds itself in a somewhat of a funk as we approach old age. Many boomers are running businesses today and in our earlier years we believed we were going to change the world.  And in many senses we did just that.  Our huge presence in the workforce and the marketplace had made many changes.  We are the generation that pushed for tolerance and diversity in the 1960's, we started the fight on poverty and equality for everyone.  We were wired for work and not afraid to do it.
         The Baby Boomer generation accounts for 26% of the total U.S. population. By sheer force of numbers, we almost certainly will redefine old age in America, just like we've made our mark on teen culture, young adult life and middle age.  Redefining old age is just as important to us as changing the work.  When we were young our grandparents lived for retirement where they could drive around the country and sightsee, join a bridge club, or just sit and read a book.  We as boomers are not satisfied with that.  We look at retirement as a new era, a time to do things we never took the time to do.  We are looking at volunteer work, marathons, bungy jumping, skiing in the Alps or any number of adventerous things.
         We are also redefining "grandparenthood."  Media still portrays grandparents as silver headed folks reading books to their grandkids.  Come on..my grandkids go four wheeling with their grandma or cruise through West Yellowstone with the top down in the convertible.  We ride bikes with our grandkids, take road trips, go to concerts, we certainly are not the silver headed folks you see in the commercials.  I have 15 grandkids ranging from 4 years old to 18 years old and I will never be an "old gramma" with them.           

          In this YouTube video Dr. White discusses how changing demographics are affecting the workplace from different angles. For example, millennials are working to fill a talent void created by retiring baby-boomers, who must pass on their valuable workplace knowledge to the new generation. Clearly, employers need to plan for the successful transfer of responsibilities between generations.
        Are we still affecting the workforce, you bet we are.   Although the first wave of boomers were eligible for early retirement under Social Security about six years ago, the boomers still constitutes about one-third of the workforce, similar to the millennials and Generation X.   As the largest generation in U.S. history, our sheer numbers along with our reluctance to retire will likely mean that our influence will endure in the workplace for many years.  #techhrd