The Maturing Workforce

CHICAGOLAND CONVERSATIONS...

CHICAGOLAND CONVERSATIONS...On the maturing workforce

I recently had the pleasure of moderating an extremely provocative panel discussion on the maturing workforce with about 40 of Chicago's leading minds on the subject.  Fellow panelists included representatives from civic associations, government offices, private industry and universities.  I kicked off the event by highlighting why this was an important issue for IBM and asked each of the panelists to do the same. Below you'll find a brief recap from the event.

Of note:

Pamela Tate of the council for Adult and Experiential Learning  discussed the challenges within the changing demographics, pointing out that 60 percent of the available jobs require skills that only 20 percent of the workforce currently has.  In addition, she talked about ways in which to keep the existing workforce working beyond 65.  Pam also highlighted that Baby Boomers don't want to go to senior centers for career advice, so her group has development offices to provide career advice for Baby Boomers.

Fred Hoch, of the Illinois Technology Association , talked about how the tech industry has a bright future ahead of it and needs to create an environment in which experienced workers can share their knowledge with the next generation.

Ruth Sweeter of the Illinois Institute of Technology  emphasized the need for formalized academic and business partnerships.

Jerry Roper, of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce   highlighted that this panel was the perfect platform to understand the issue before people tried to invent something to fix it.  He also noted how Chicago is poised to bring in new talent..."The City is alive," he said.

In addition, we had a number of the attendees provide insights  from a more global perspective.   In particular, Ed Gordon of Imperial Consulting (Ed has also written books on this subject), drilled home messages around the shift in thinking about the US. For instance, he stated that China now stands for learning, while the US's culture is more focused on short-term profits.  He also talked about how the next generation is less educationally prepared than the Baby Boomers.

While I have pages and pages of notes I could share, I thought some of the most telling sound bytes were captured in the following phrases the  panel and audience used to refer to the maturing workforce issue:

• The Fear of Change

• The Roof is Starting to Leak

• The Meltdown

• The Knowledge Vacuum

• The Quiet Crisis

• Solving the Crisis

• What Would be the Cost of Doing Nothing?

Finally, in addition to all the suits in the audience, we also had about 11 students from the I.C. Stars organization attend.  I.C. Stars provides opportunities for inner-city young adults to harness the strength of technology for social and economic leadership. By integrating technology training and leadership development, I.C. Stars is shaping the next generation of technology leaders.

Midway through the conversation, many of the audience members and panelists began asking the students about what they need from the next generation and suggested some questions they should ask potential employers.  At the close of the session, many of the panelists passed up conversations with others to speak directly with the students.  This  really gave the discussion an interesting dynamic, and made me think of that classic CSN&Y song  "Teach your children well"  which in today's maturing workforce could be re-spun as  "Teach your parents well" --either way, the bottom line is we're all learning as we grow (or should I say "mature"?).

I look forward to hearing what others are learning ... 

--Duffy Gaynor

Vice President-IBM Global Services and

Senior Location Executive

Is "modular" work the way?

(Here's one account from a "blogs eye-view witness" (a.k.a an attendee) at the recent IBM summit on the maturing workforce...Would "modular" work for you? What do you think?) 

Is “modular” work the way?

So says Harvard Business School professor at IBM summit on maturing workforce

To help spur action on the multi-generational economy, IBM held a major “influencer” summit in New York City on November 14. Comprising 65 guests and two participatory panels, the summit also featured two acclaimed speakers: former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter.

Speaking without slides or notes, Secretary Reich declared that “Demographics is destiny.” U.S. baby boomers have high expectations for retirement, but with low savings rates and house resale values that are likely to disappoint (given the shrinking population in the post-boomer years), they generally won’t be able to afford it. This will force many people to work past traditional retirement age. The question, however, is whether companies are prepared to accommodate them. Not yet, Reich said. He urged companies, for their own good, to try to retain what he termed “relational capital”: those older employees harboring years of experience with customers, suppliers, and partners. He mentioned possible remedies that IBM itself has proposed: phased retirement, on-the-job training, flex-time, flex-place, and more. Interestingly, he thought that while Social Security would survive, helping to ease the situation a bit, healthcare in the U.S. was in dire straits.

Professor Kanter, the luncheon speaker, echoed Reich’s observation that costs are rising as people “want it all,” and went on to discuss innovation as it applied to the maturing workforce. Saying that “Innovation is always beyond what we see today,” she broached two novel concepts. One is the idea of “modular work,” akin to discrete bursts of work much like extended project work. Retirees could work in modules — as could younger workers, who are often focused on raising families. Tailoring work to life’s needs, modules could help to discard possibly outdated notions like full-time and part-time work. Another idea, now percolating at Harvard, is a school for advanced institutional leadership. In one-year fellowships, it would train retiring business leaders and other high achievers to tackle global problems like poverty, healthcare, malnutrition, and the environment. Answering fears that the program could be seen as elitist, she asserted that “Elite programs can lead massive change.”

- Submitted by Linda Hanson, written by David Harrison (Both from IBM) 

Continuing the Conversations...

I came to IBM in late 1993 to reengineer IBM's global corporate social responsibility efforts and to launch IBM's efforts at strategic philanthropy including the initiation of the Reinventing Education Program; and here I am a dozen years later talking about boomers reinventing retirement. While the topics seem unrelated, I believe they are actually intimately connected.

In the U.S. for example, replenishing tomorrow's workforce will require a national effort in our schools and in our businesses. On one hand, we have the potential for a mass exodus of millions of experienced workers, and on the other, we have both a crisis in student performance and a massive teacher shortage in our schools, especially in the areas of math and science. As job demand for skills in science, engineering and technology increases, 76 million workers are approaching retirement and fewer U.S. students are expressing interest in math and science -- all while competition from developing nations grows. This is no time for the U.S. to have a labor shortage especially in these critical areas and no time to be losing our teachers. However, we believe innovation can bridge these trends and create opportunity.

This is why IBM recently announced its Transition to Teaching Program. We're helping our interested, eligible and experienced workers become certified teachers. Our internal response and industry reception has been overwhelming. We've invited our partners and competitors to participate and will openly share methodology, materials and ideas on the topic. But this is one program, and across the U.S., we need more. We need more from business. We need more from academia. We need more from government.   

We believe the socio-economic implications of the maturing workforce are worth discussing today. And based on the number of people who have attended some of our recent events, clearly, we are not alone. Since May, IBM has hosted a series of small "salons" on the topic of the maturing workforce. Our intent from the start has been simple -- create a forum for the open exchange of ideas and information.  From Washington, to San Diego, to Chicago as well as cities in Europe and Asia, we have uniformly heard that this type of conversation is not only welcome, but necessary. Which is why we will be culminating this series with a larger event in New York on November 14. We expect some of the nation's leaders on economic, labor and workforce issues to join us -- including former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.   

I invite those of you who've been part of our salon discussions, as well as the folks we'll meet at the November event, to share some of your own research and insights on this blog. Feel free to post on any issue relevant to this topic -- whether it's government programs, business insight, consumer marketing, or macro-economic implications. I look forward to continuing the conversation at the event in November and, on an ongoing basis, here on the Maturing Workforce blog.

-- Stan Litow, Vice President, Corporate Community Relations, IBM