Taken from: PublicWorks.com

Published on 11/8/2000 

The workforce of today is very different from that of 50 years ago, and again will be very different from what’s coming in the future. Bill Cook, president of Human Resource Associates, a management consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area spoke today at the Association of Water Technologies (AWT) annual conference on this subject. Cook predicted six workforce trends that will affect not only your business but all businesses in America by 2020.

The changes in the coming workforce are going to be more dramatic than the changes that took place when women, minorities and immigrants began entering the American workforce years ago. What’s coming involves a whole new set of rules—rules made up by the workers, not management. While some of these ideas seem far off in the future, Cook predicts they will happen by 2020, if not sooner.

Six major trends Cook sees for the U.S. workforce include:

1. Older workers: The workforce is aging; people are living longer. Duke University recently came out with a report stating that by 2040, half of all U.S. citizens will be over the age of 85. Older workers are very capable and often wish to remain active in the workforce, and as such, Cook says that one-third of all people who retire before age 65 return to the workforce full time within 18 months of retirement. Cook also predicts we’ll see the next 100-year old CEO within five years, maybe 10 years at the most. Advantages to hiring older workers include a good work ethic, they are steady and dependable, and are often employed because they want to be, not because they have to be.
2. Immigrants and minorities: Cook says that research trends predict that by the year 2050, Caucasians will be the minorities in America. He says that in 20 years, 75% of immigrant workers will be Hispanic and 25% will be Asian.
3. Benefits: There won’t be any benefits, says Cook. Why? Because people won’t want them. With the help of employer contributions, employees want to maximize their 401k plan contributions. They won’t want pension plan or profit sharing benefits. As long as one member of the family has health insurance, the other member is telling his/her employer that he/she doesn’t want any benefits from the employer other than a 401k. Employees are telling employers today that they are willing to not take benefits if the employer will extend their paid vacation time. (See #4 below.)
4. Time off: Some time off in the future will be government-mandated, says Cook, other time off will be demanded by employees. People used to use their time off for family-related events, etc. People still want that time for the family, but the also want time for themselves. Employers will have to develop innovative programs to be able to accommodate the employee demands for time off. (See #5 below.)
5. Sharing employees: Cook predicts the demise of the five-day, 40-hour workweek. To coincide with the American workforce wanting more time off, companies will start job-sharing programs. Two part-time employees will fill one full time position. It’s the best of both worlds: the employee has a job that allows for plenty of time to spend with their family, and employers fill a position. To make it even better, the employer often won’t have to offer benefits because either a) the employee is part-time and doesn’t qualify for them, or b) the employee’s spouse has benefits that cover the both.
6. “The end of the job”: Cook says that employees will want work, but not a “job.” They won’t want to go in to the office, mark off tasks from their ‘To Do’ list, take orders from superiors, be reviewed and given 3% raises, etc. The trend of the future is that permanent employees will become contract employees. They want and will do the work, but not in your environment under your rules. When they finish the work they’ve been contracted to do, they will leave and go find more work.

For more information on this subject, contact Bill Cook at Human Resource Associates, 6050 Greenway Court, Manassas, VA 20112-3049, or visit their website at www.consulthra.com.

Adapted by Tracy Fabre, Managing Editor, Water Online