The Baby Boomer Retirement Surge Will Spark a Forever Labor Shortage

Ever since the pandemic, American companies big and small have been scrambling to find enough workers to stay fully staffed. They’ve been forced to offer big salaries and generous perks, while employees were free to shop around for better offers or simply walk off the job to join the Great Resignation. But now, layoffs are up and job openings are down. The economy is slowing, and the Federal Reserve is hiking interest rates at the fastest pace in decades. By any objective measure, the balance of power in the job market should be tipping back to employers.

Strangely, though, it isn’t. Ask pretty much anyone who’s hiring these days, and they’ll tell you something curious: It remains incredibly hard to find and hire enough qualified people for the roles they’re desperately trying to fill. Somehow, workers still hold the power — and a massive shift that’s underway in the labor market could keep it that way forever.