How Have Baby Boomers Impacted Organizations

¶ … formation on the topic of baby boomers and their impact on organizations and businesses. The articles of focus are "Last Boomer Turns 50 but This G-G-Generation Ain't Done Yet" by Dan Kadlec and "Peace, Love, And No Retirement In Sight: Why So Many Baby Boomers Must Keep Working" by Martha T.S. Laham that are a commentary on the predicaments that the generation fast approaching retirement faces.

As Landon Jones, the historian, described the trend 'the cry of the baby was heard across the land,' the end of World War II brought in a trend of baby boomers. As compared to 1945, 3.4 million babies were born in 1946 which was twenty percent more. 1946 was the start of baby boomers after which in 1947, 3.8 million and in 1952, 3.9 million babies were born. During 1954 to 1964, more than four million babies were born after which the trend somehow came to a halt. By 1964, America was home to 76.4 million babies which made up forty percent of the population of U.S. (Baby Boomers - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com). Baby boom occurred for multiple, concurrent reasons; the Americans who got older had postponed childbirth and marriage during WWII and the Great Depression joined the young people in the maternity wards. In the 1940s, an average age for the woman who got married was twenty two, in 1956 it was twenty. In the 1940s, only eight percent of the women chose not to have children as compared to the women in 1930s, which is fifteen percent more. Many people after the war planned to have children because they were sure that the future now would be peaceful, prosperous and comfortable and they were correct too. Corporations in America grew profitable and larger than before, the labor unions started giving more benefits and wages to the members and the consumer goods were now affordable and plentiful than the previous years (Baby Boomers - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com).

The Americans now felt that they could provide a good future to their families and the time was different than before. Many articles talk about the effect of baby boomers from which two of them are chosen for review. The articles "Peace, Love, And No Retirement In Sight: Why So Many Baby Boomers Must Keep Working" by Martha T.S. Laham, and "Last Boomer Turns 50 but This G-G-Generation Ain't Done Yet" by Dan Kadlec highlight the topic that the baby boomers might be reaching their golden time but they are still active and do not want to retire (Writer Thoughts).

Article Summaries

The Last Boomer Turns 50 but This G-G-Generation Ain't Done Yet" by Dan Kadlec

The article "The Last Boomer Turns 50 but This G-G-Generation Ain't Done Yet" by Kadlec talks about the idea of baby boomers turning fifty but that does not necessarily imply that they are seeking retirement. Kadlec calls the latest generation "millennials" and starts the article by stating that the adults and young adults of the present times have passed the "boomers" in the main metric which makes them an important gist for mill of the marketers and also guarantees demographers and sociologists would analyze them and talk about them for a lot of time to come. The millennials, according to Kadlec, have already affected the workplace as well as the industries like real estate, auto etc. (Kadlec2015). Kadlec, however, also argues that this does not make the baby boomers less impactful as seventy five percent of the wealth of America is controlled by people who are 55 years old. Healthcare is also very costly and is part of seventeen percent of the country's economy that is one main area where the baby boomers have created a lot of change. Retirement is also discussed in the article where Kadlec states that the boomers who are 88 or 92 years old cannot afford to even imagine thirty years of leisurely life. These people are only starting to remodel the last years of their life through business startups, late careers, or even retirement ideas.

Baby boomers are being looked at by financial institutions as very important. Kadlec further talks about the issue of how the baby boomers opt to live the last days of their lives, which would have huge implications on the legal system and retirement planning as well as medical science; concluding with the statement that the baby boomers might have reached their old age, but they still have a lot to offer and are significant (Kadlec 2015).

"Peace, Love, And No Retirement In Sight: Why So Many Baby Boomers Must Keep Working" by Martha T. S. Laham

In Martha T.S. Laham's "Peace, Love, And No Retirement In Sight: Why So Many Baby Boomers Must Keep Working," she talks about the idea of baby boomers finding it difficult to come to peace with retirement thoughts and the reasons they might be delaying them (Laham, 2015). The boomers are not comfortable thinking about retirement and most of them possibly need to keep working. More than seventy percent of the baby boomer accepted that they might delay their retirement while fifty percent of them said that would not be able to retire from their nine to five jobs in the near future. Laham also stated that the baby boomer women would be working longer and more than half of the boomers would delay quitting their jobs. One other reason for delay in retirement is the fact that the baby boomers are worried about their financial future. They think and are worried that the benefits of Social Security would be little help and Medicare would be a problem too. Laham also pointed out that the baby boomers are finding it hard to juggle between children, work, and family responsibilities.

The reasons mentioned above are a source of great stress and anxiety for the baby boomers and Laham concludes the article with a positive message that the baby boomers should not be underestimated even though they are facing problems.

Issues/Impacts

The articles talk about the same issue and question the effect of baby boomers on different organizations. Human resource managers and business owners are facing a large number of departures of senior, experienced workers, which has not been witnessed previously. Moving further into the twenty first century, the organizations would have to deal with the boomers retiring. In the census of 2000, the baby boomers were estimated to be 82 million by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS also estimated that 24 million workers would be required in 2010, because of the retirement or death of the boomers. Many organizations could lose fifty percent of the executives in the next 2 to 3 years. The consequences of the exit should be carefully examined and steps should be taken to overcome the space left by the baby boomers. By the year 2010, the baby boomers would be aged between 48 and 66 and would be thinking about leaving their work and jobs to spend the remaining time with their children and enjoying life. This step would put a huge strain on the government and the companies as well as the organizations that would necessitate search for adequate replacements (End of the Boom: Retiring Baby Boomers and the Consequences for Your Business).

Over the next four years, the labor force is expected to grow twelve percent while the workers over 55 years of age are projected to grow around fifty percent. The small size of generation X that are coupled with a high rate of turnover means that there is a less replacement pool and competition has increased. The demographic facts show a shortage in labor in the coming years and then there are people who argue that the baby boomers are going to live longer than their parents and the previous generations (End of the Boom: Retiring Baby Boomers and the Consequences for Your Business). This however does make it possible that the baby boomers would retain their jobs past the age of retirement. Another possibility is that of the lawmakers raising the age for benefits of social security, high living costs and pension losses, and IRA accounts linked to the stock market might delay the age of retirement. The baby boomers, fortunately, will not retire tomorrow but planning regarding that issue should begin right away.

Implied/Factual Impact of the Main Issues on Organizations

Since the baby boomers have to change themselves in order to fit in the company or workplace that is staffed with young workers, the company executives also need to develop a tolerant and welcoming tone for them. Biasness of age can be overt or subtle, but it also violates the Act of Age Discrimination in Employment that gives protection to the people who are over forty years old (Tappero). According to this, the senior workers must be given opportunities to go further, have access to training, transfer to positions they desire, to be given rewards for their work, and receive coaching and feedback. Several studies point out the fact that the baby boomers will be working much longer than their parents. According to the study of AARP, fifty percent of the boomers see themselves still working until they reach the age of seventy. Thirty six percent of the boomers said they would not be able to afford retirement. A workforce that is aging is a new thing for the coworkers and the managers to deal with.

Different strategies to capitalize the assets, controlling conflicts and decreasing pitfalls of the boomers should be put at the correct place so that all the parties can get fulfillment and success. AARP's poll showed that forty eight percent of the companies have not and will not plan any strategy to analyze the effect of boomers' retirement on their business (Tappero). Several occupations and industries would be heavily affected by the retirement of the boomers and it is not rare to read articles about the effect that the recession has on the young people still graduating. They already have limited career opportunities and if the boomers delay their retirement, the young people will have to further advance towards finding work opportunities. This might result in financial influences for the generations X and Y for years to come.

According to Rich Unbdenstock, the president of American Hospital Association, '"Today's report outlines a tidal wave of health needs - Boomers are just the beginning.' He stated that most of the boomers will be active in the later years of their life which is something positive; but the challenges regarding health would need great focus on prevention and wellness and a new direction towards the health care system of America.

In 2011, the first baby boomers would turn sixty five and by 2030, more than thirty seven million of them would be suffering from chronic conditions; fourteen million would be suffering from diabetes; more than half would be living with arthritis and more than 21 million would be considered obese (Baby Boomers to Challenge and Change Tomorrow's Health Care System). This will demand for increase in medical services as well as physicians. By the year 2020, the baby boomers would require 4 in 10 visits to the physician. Over the next twenty years, the baby boomers would require a lot more hospitalization as they would have multiple conditions. Similarly, it would be difficult to keep up the amount of physicians, primary care and registered nurses (Baby Boomers to Challenge and Change Tomorrow's Health Care System). Furthermore, the ethnical diversity of the boomers would require more need to have diverse caregivers. With emerging demands, the technology would also change resulting in a different care delivery. The baby boomers have lived through several medical advances including heart surgery and polio vaccinations and this would continue to happen in the future as well.