Big shoes to fill: Boomer Employees are Starting to Eye the Exit.

• Author: Kinder, Peri
• Position: Focus

The American workforce is aging. In fact, the National Technical and Research Center issued a report in March 2013 that said by 2016, one-third of the workforce in this country will be 50 years or older.

After working their way up to leadership positions over more than four decades, the baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age, and taking their experience, knowledge and business savvy to warmer climates as they leave their industries.

Will the younger generations be able to fill this void? How are companies developing procedures to help stem the tide of retirees? Several industries will be hit hard as the older generation retires, including the construction, banking and healthcare industries. But the news might not be all bad as business leaders find creative ways to leverage their employees' decades of experience.

Building the Next Workforce Throughout the nation, an educational process is being implemented to attract young workers to craft and labor positions in the construction industry. Organizations like the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) offer apprenticeships, scholarship programs and training in fields like carpentry and cement masonry, hoping to attract new laborers to the industry.

The problem is, most young people aren't interested in a career that involves long hours and often grueling work. And too often, parents are discouraging children from entering the construction field, urging them to. find easier ways to make a living.

To make matters worse, older tradesmen are unwilling to give away trade secrets to a generation they feel are lazy and unmotivated. Rich Holbrook is Layton Construction's general superintendent and has worked with the company for 20 years. He sees filling craft/ laborer positions to be the biggest problem for the future, even though construction jobs pay higher-than-average wages and can be a lifelong career.

"There's a tendency in the younger generation to look for easier means and methods for earning money. They think this industry is backbreaking and difficult, but it can be very fulfilling and satisfying," says Holbrook.

Roughly 25 to 30 percent of the employees at Layton Construction are in the Boomer age group. While most of those older workers are in management positions, several craftsmen--like 70-year-old Scott Dotson and 41-year Layton veteran Ray Nelson--are experts in their fields and will be sorely missed when they leave the company.

Additionally, a survey conducted by...