This is not your parents' labor market.
For decades, "Create more jobs!" and "Get a STEM degree!" were the rallying cries of an economy desperate for emerging tech skills and saturated with jobseekers who were eager to set themselves apart from the competition. But today, job openings abound across many other sectors of the labor market, and the large population of Baby Boomers is retiring—either completely or away from the physically demanding jobs they once held.
This means that the relentless focus on job creation and white-collar/tech credentials is outdated and needs to change. And the sooner the better.
Yes, tech skills still matter in this economy. Yes, good jobs still bring prosperity. But as we explain in detail in Lightcast's new report, "The Rising Storm," the market is now lopsided in the opposite direction. Even as our population still grows, the US-born labor force has lost a net 73,000 workers over the last 5 years, mostly to retirement. Young people are starting their first jobs later and later. And prime-age men are working at some of the lowest rates we've ever seen. Major labor shortages loom, especially in important occupations that rely heavily on prime-age males.
Meanwhile, older workers, recent college grads, and the AI revolution all seem aimed at the same set of office and professional roles. If you've heard buzz about a so-called "white collar recession" this is why. Those are the jobs with a surplus of available talent.
This means that, across the economy, our new focus must be less on job *creation* and more on job *allocation*. We can't absorb another influx of jobseekers with digital marketing degrees if we don't even have the utility workers required to keep the power on for all their computers.
Those regions with a shrinking labor force are already playing a zero-sum talent game. Business attraction, for example, can boost a local economy, but if creating 200 new jobs doesn't also come with the addition of 200 new workers (plus the homes for them to live in!), the community risks pulling people away from the very roles (construction, utilities, public services, food production, etc.), that keep the local infrastructure running.
Aligning talent to the needs of each community is crucial. And not all locations will have the same demographics and demands. But no matter what, building a future-ready workforce will mean attracting and equipping the people we have available so that they can fill the critical roles our aging society needs most.
This new labor market is going to require a major shift in thinking for just about everyone, from policy makers to corporate recruiters to college program developers to parents of high schoolers—and everyone in between. Taking steps toward building a future-ready workforce that can withstand the rising storm needs to start now.
#TheRisingStorm #DemographicDrought #FutureReadyWorkforce #LaborShortage
--
1yAuto Airconditioning Technician 22years experience