Firms pay scant attention to coming retirement wave

Low unemployment 4.2 percent at last count means that most employers across the Reno-Sparks area are so busy trying to fill current openings that they have little time to worry about the graying of the workforce and upcoming retirements.

Labor experts caution that could be a mistake, particularly in industries that rely on skilled labor.

"In my opinion the most dramatic impact of the aging work force will be in the more skilled positions," said Jeff Hardcastle, Nevada's state demographer.

The Associated General Contractors, for instance, estimates that almost a million trade jobs nationwide will need to be filled in 2008 with a million workers a year in the following years.

Bob Alessandrelli, a recruiter with the Western Apprenticeship Coordinators Association, said construction unions and employers are very aware of the current and upcoming employee crunch.

"They are definitely worried about it. We continue to be the fastest growing state in the nation, and we also have an aging workforce. It is going to have a huge impact here and everywhere," said Alessandrelli, who makes the rounds of schools and organizations to pitch trade careers. "They are hurting for people in the trades."

Tom Fitzgerald, chief executive officer of Nevadaworks, predicts some industries will be harder hit than others especially in fields such as nursing, healthcare and the trades where there already are shortages. Nevadaworks is the local workforce investment board for northern Nevada.

But he is less concerned than others about a huge employee shortage arising as Baby Boomers reach retirement age. As they have in so many other areas, Baby boomers will likely redefine what retirement is, says Fitzgerald.

"If retirement meant what it used to, then that could be a problem. But baby boomers are going to change the definition of retirement. What their parents did is not necessarily going to be what they do," Fitzgerald said.

There is already evidence that boomers reaching retirement age are just shifting jobs or careers and becoming entrepreneurial, he said.

Still, the growing population of the state and uncertainty about what boomers will do is good enough reason to prepare for employee shortages, he said, especially in industries with a need for skilled workers.

Fitzgerald said some companies are preparing better than others.

"There are companies that have five- and 10-year plans but they are the rare ones," he said, "Some companies have programs to train young people or mentor them to take over the jobs of older workers.

All companies will have difficulty because this is a generational problem. There are not enough people who want to work to fill all the open positions. Many companies are having a problem trying to fill positions period."

However, he attributes some of those problems to the attitudes of young people.

"Many young employees are not thinking of careers; they just want a job. They take time off to ski in the winter and then take another job," Fitzgerald said.