Boomers to the rescue
BU economist: Mass. must retool aging labor force By Hope Green
Three true tales from the dark side of a bright Massachusetts economy:
These unfortunate accounts appear in a preliminary draft of "Older Workers: An Essential Resource for Massachusetts," a new study coauthored by Peter Doeringer, CAS professor of economics, and scheduled for release next month. The analysis challenges the Bay State to correct a disturbing paradox: while these are prosperous times for the state's economy (the statewide unemployment rate averaged just 3.2 percent in 1999, according to media reports), a shortage of workers aged 25 to 39 threatens to cause serious problems for industry within five years. Yet a sizable proportion of unemployed or underemployed workers in higher age brackets lacks proper skills to rejoin the workforce. As a remedy, the study calls for the state legislature to set up a centrally coordinated job-training system, which would carefully take stock of scarce skills, develop the requisite training programs, and give workers of all ages an incentive to find satisfying jobs. "Our report says that Massachusetts needs to train its older workers not only to make them more productive and earn higher incomes, but to help the entire Massachusetts economy," says Doeringer, who directed the report's research staff as a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Older Workers. "We have a labor shortage and a skills mismatch, and our goal is to fix both of these by getting people who would otherwise get discouraged or retire early to stay in the workforce."
Blueprint for reform The commission, a 12-member independent panel of industry
executives, labor leaders, educators, and other interested parties, was
appointed by Paul Cellucci in 1997, when he was still lieutenant governor.
Its initial charge was merely to take a fresh look at federal employment
and training services targeted to workers 55 and up. But the project quickly
grew in scope. The group's report, says Doeringer, should serve as a "blueprint
for the reform of training policies in Massachusetts."
In focus groups and public hearings, the commission heard a variety of personal predicaments. Family obligations, lack of a college degree, and obsolete skills are common employment barriers, the researchers found. Age discrimination is also a factor, resulting from the pervasive myth that senior workers are reluctant to learn new technologies. Yet those interviewed for the study demonstrated an eagerness to update their skills. Meanwhile, the commission found, the supply of younger workers is dwindling and Massachusetts will need an estimated 46,000 new workers a year through 2005. At the same time, the number of 45- to 69-year-olds in the population is on the rise and will account for a record 2 out of 5 people in the labor pool (employed or available for work) by 2010. A scarcity of so-called prime-age workers threatens the entire country, Doeringer says, but for a variety of reasons Massachusetts will feel the pinch sooner than most states. Sectors hit hardest will be health, high-technology, financial services, and education, as well as a wide range of blue-collar and paraprofessional areas. "The only thing that has prevented a slowdown of the Massachusetts economy is the hiring of so many immigrants," Doeringer says. "Now we're bumping up against the limits of |