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HVBF & The Greater Baltimore Alliance Forum Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn Forty-six members and guests met to hear four recognized authorities on the subject of the growing number of older workers in the workforce. This Forum was organized through the cooperation of the Hunt Valley Business Forum and its strategic partner the Greater Baltimore Alliance. Our moderator was: Stephen Schertler, Manager Workforce Strategic Projects, Greater Baltimore Alliance Larry Anderson began by defining the issue as a train coming down the track and heading for a wreck. Baby boomers are on that train and the workforce needs to prepare for them. Within ten years, nineteen states will have the age demographics of Florida. Larry also mentioned that this meeting today, was the first ever devoted to the recognition of this issue. This will be the beginning of our continuing focus on the progress toward action and solution. The other panelists outlined their perspective on the issue and its cause. A declining workforce size compared to the growing need for workers in the environment of an aging population leads to an expansion of workers available in the older worker classification. HR professionals in particular and all businesses in general must prepare to accommodate the older worker simply because there are going to be more of them. Their needs are different and the way to reach them is different. A list of attendees is available by email if you will contact me at director@hvbf.org. The handout “How To Recruit, Manage, Train and Retain the New Older Worker” is available from The National Older Worker Career Center; 1615 L Street, NW, Suite 750; Washington, DC 20036; phone 202-331-5017; website www.nowcc.org. This is an issue we need to prepare for now and benefit from tomorrow. |