Workplace 2005

The biggest change coming in the 21st century workplace has to do with the aging work force. In 2006, according to projections by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average worker will be nearly 41, up from 38 in 1996. That will be caused by the aging of the baby boomers, the oldest of whom will be 60 by then, according to BLS demographer Howard Fullerton.

An aging work force means child care won't be as big an issue, but elder care will, according to labor issue trend-trackers. Employees will increasingly want to bring their aging parents to on-site care facilities, just as many do with children today, according to John Challenger, CEO of Chicago executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

If you provide employees with child care, you may find it politically difficult to continue doing so, says Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and author of Trends 2000 (Warner Books). "There's going to be a backlash," he warns. "About two-thirds of workers don't have children under 18 living at home, so benefits given to those who do have children rub [some] people the wrong way."

Increasingly, you'll employ workers who are themselves young enough to still live at home. That's because while the average worker ages, the BLS predicts workers aged 16 to 24 will grow faster as a group than the rest of the work force between now and 2006.

More youngsters on the payroll means employers will need to discover new ways to train effectively, according to Bill Hendricks, president of The Hendricks Group, a Dallas human resources consulting firm. Hendricks foresees more partnerships between businesses and school systems to make sure graduates have employable skills. Says Hendricks, "To a large extent, the business community is going to take over the responsibility of educating people."

This article was originally published in the November 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Workplace 2005.