Original 2021 statement: Change-resistant baby boomers are starting to leave the economy, making things even faster than they are
What Jim has written about this
From “Daily Inspiration: Workforce trends - “Retirement? It’s no longer a number, it’s a phase!”” (April 2024)
Simple demographics suggest that we will soon see a significant skills shortage throughout the North American economy given the ever-increasing number of baby boomers entering their retirement years.
Quite simply, a lot of specialized expertise is set to exit our economy, and the potential impact is frightening. For example, it is expected that by 2010 we will see a shortage of up to 400,000 nurses in the US. This is happening just as the healthcare system will find itself under increasing strain as those same aging baby boomers begin to enter retirement and place additional demands on the system.
Add to these trends an even more interesting fact — baby boomers will outlive any previous generation.
From “Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #23 Generational Value Shifts: “Digital natives aren’t just changing the workplace-they’re accelerating humanity’s boldest innovations while older resistance fades away.”” (July 2025)
” They’re not like us. ” That’s the common refrain from most baby boomers and many senior executives today. And that much is true. I’ve been cognizant of this for a long, long time, often noting that I used to run ’ change management workshops .’ That is, until a young person came up to me about 20 years ago and said, ’ Why can’t you people just change already?”
What’s up? The decade between 2025 and 2035 will mark a fundamental and irreversible transfer of economic, cultural, and operational power within the global workforce. The boomers, with their resistance to change ingrained in many of their mindsets till the end, are finally leaving the workforce, and you people are taking over. And as these digital natives—Millennials and Generation Z—transition from workforce participants to the leadership cohort, they are driving a great rebalancing that will restructure the global economy in massive ways!
Baby Boomers : ~0% - Virtually exited the workforce
From “Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #24 The Five Generation Society: “A world of five active generations creates unprecedented opportunities for innovation, connection, and shared prosperity - not to mention opportunities to help to fix a broken society.”” (July 2025)
Baby Boomers are expected to bequeath $53 trillion, while the Silent Generation will transfer $15.8 trillion.
North America will see the largest transfer in absolute terms, but it is poised to become a ” Great Inequality Transfer,” as white Baby Boomers hold over 90% of their generation’s wealth, potentially deepening the racial wealth gap.
Workforce Composition. By 2030, Millennials and Gen Z will form the majority of the global workforce, making their expectations the new standard. One of the most urgent challenges is the ” knowledge crash” risk, as retiring Baby Boomers take decades of invaluable institutional knowledge with them.
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
Daily Inspiration: Workforce trends - “Retirement? It’s no longer a number, it’s a phase!”
Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #23 Generational Value Shifts: “Digital natives aren’t just changing the workplace-they’re accelerating humanity’s boldest innovations while older resistance fades away.”
Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #24 The Five Generation Society: “A world of five active generations creates unprecedented opportunities for innovation, connection, and shared prosperity - not to mention opportunities to help to fix a broken society.”