shutterstock_530221237

Will the U.S. run out of workers?

Amid a strong labor-force participation rate, a push for policies is underway to draw more people into the workforce as millions of baby boomers retire.
-

On its face, the question seems silly. In an uncertain economy, how could the U.S. run out of workers? But if we take a look at some statistics, the answer is shall we say, complicated. While a report released from the White House this week highlights the strength of the labor force, a closer look reveals a push for policies to encourage more people to work as the nation faces the retirement of millions of baby boomers.

The share of Americans at work or looking for work, known as the labor-force participation rate, has stabilized at 63 percent from 2015 to 2018. But economists continue to expect that rate to fall in the coming years as millions of baby boomers hit retirement age.

In anticipation of this forecasted decline, the U.S. government is looking for ways to draw more people into the workforce to offset the population that is aging out of the workforce. As this conversation starter on LinkedIn points out — these policies would potentially cut the cost of childcare, increase employer training or alter the criminal justice system.

Related: Companies lose out when employees’ caregiving burdens increase

Tell us: Do you think the US will run out of workers as the baby-boomer population ages out of the workforce?

Regardless of whether or not you think that the U.S. will run out of workers as the aging population retires, it’s important that you understand how the U.S. job market is rapidly changing as a result of advances in technology, automation, and other factors, and why it’s so important for everyday Americans to begin preparing now for an uncertain future. Watch our animated short film to get our perspective on what’s ahead for the workforce.

WorkingNation is a not-for-profit national campaign dedicated to explaining the high stakes of Structural Unemployment and investigating potential solutions to the problem through innovative storytelling.

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.