(Chestnut Hill, MA)  --  Millions of baby boomers are getting set to enjoy their retirement years and the "talent drain threatens to alter the national economy."  That's according to Ithaca College sociologist Stephen Sweet who has co-authored  a report titled "Pressures of Talent Management."  The report took a look at 696 organizations involved in ten major areas of the U.S. economy.

   Four in ten of those businesses anticipate the aging workforce will have a negative impact on their business over the next three years.

   At the same time, nearly 70-percent don't know how old their workers are or what proportion is likely to retire.

   The report says 77-percent of employers surveyed hadn't taken a look at projected employee retirement rates or current employee career plans.

   More than half hadn't taken an in depth look at the skills their organizations need now and into the future.

   Baby boomers made up 48-percent of the workforce in the year 2000.

   By next year that figure will shrivel to 37-percent.

   The report authors warn businesses need to begin planning now because the current abundance of older worker talent and experience is going to dry up.

   Employers will soon be faced with the need to fill millions of jobs.
   The report has been released by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College and is posted online at bc.edu.



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