Baby Boomers Gen Y and the Issues that the USA Faces - Case Study Example

Baby Boomers, Gen Y and the Issues USA Face In Regaining Industrial High Ground Introduction In this present day context, wherein the business world is incessantly changing due to increased level of globalization and gaining momentum of internationalization, managers belonging to various business corporations or firms tend to operate in full recessionary mode. The managers, in this present day context, have witnessed dramatic shifts in the composition of workforce while performing their respective operational functions. In this similar context, the combination of Baby Boomers who are going to be retired and Generation Y, developing the professional ranks, can be apparently observed towards changing the business scenario when influencing the composition of workforce within organizations. In earlier years, the business conditions and the operational procedures in various organizations were much simpler as much as compared to the recent times due to effective performance made by the Baby Boomers. However, the operational procedures and the business conditions in this present day context can be observed as quiet complex due to increased level of technological changes, changing preferences of the customers and most vitally, ineffective performance of Generation Y due to above discussed crucial issues (Hewlett et. al., 2009). With this concern, the report intends to discuss about Baby Boomers, Gen Y and the issues that USA faces in regaining an industrially valuable ground. In this regard, the key issues faced by the companies of the US, undertaking strategic developments that include skill requirements, technological developments and mobility among others, will also be discussed in the report. 2. A Brief Overview of Baby Boomers and Gen Y The individuals born during the period from 1946 to 1964, i.e. during the Post-World War II period, are commonly regarded as the Baby Boomers. The Baby Boomers were observed to constitute the most active labor force being physically fit and wealthiest during that particular time period, which eventually resulted in bringing up or forming an egocentric generation. As previously mentioned, the business conditions as well as the operational mechanisms of the organizations were not found to be quiet complex, which was owing to the reason of possessing the above stated qualities or facets by the Baby Boomers. Thus, it can be apparently observed that the Baby Boomers generally followed “bent” rules along with regulations framed by the traditionalists (United Nations, n.d.). On the other hand, individuals born between the years 1981 and 2000 are termed as Generation Y or Gen Y. This group seems to be quiet powerful as they possess sound knowledge in handling any sort of situation, solving various problems and most vitally, making valuable decisions. It is worth mentioning that Gen Y people or individuals are considered to be much advanced as compared to the Baby Boomers as they grow up with the latest mode of technologies and undergo various modernized problem-solving situations that can be of much use to modern organizations in aligning their operations in accordance with the external market context. It can further be affirmed that this group of people often face challenges or problems due to their demanding nature and become more unrealistic in their respective career aspirations (Fairfax Media, 2014). 3. Issues Faced By the USA In Regaining Industrial High Ground It has been evident that the USA has been at the top position in the context of high industrial ground for an extensive time period. This was owing to the reason of introducing new along with innovative business organizations designing their products in accordance with the preferences of the customers. However, with the passage of time, the nation has been facing certain issues in regaining the similar position in the circumstance of high industrial ground. This can be better explained by taking into concern the impact of Baby Boomers on the US economy. It can also be affirmed from a wider understanding that the USA faced critical issues in regaining industrial high ground due to the reason of major social transformations along with shifts made by the Baby Boomers in the nation, which can be easily identified with reference to the currently persisting generation gaps within its workplace. In this similar concern, the social transformations and shifts can be apparently noted as increased level of flexibility in the operational procedures, greater level of obligation towards the family, making the need of higher sense of prosperity as well as self-actualization and promoting the well-being of the people among others (Dineva, 2012). Specially mentioning, sustaining the economic position can be duly considered as one of the prime issues, faced by the USA in regaining industrial high ground. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the willingness of Baby Boomers to stay as employed for an extensive time period ultimately impacted the American economy in an unfavorable manner. The main problem of the USA in this regard lay in experiencing looming retirement crisis, leaving the elderly people who are going to be retired struggling to remain employed to deliver financial support to their respective retirement futures. In addition, the USA might face another issue of unstable reliance on social security in regaining industrial high ground. It can be apparently observed in this similar concern that the baby boomers have begun to retire and claim their benefits specifically from social security. In this context, social security denotes the biggest federal program of the USA government, which is funded by the payroll taxes of the existing workforce to reimburse the benefits of current retirees. Thus, with the growing of ageing work population and collecting the retirement benefits by the Baby Boomers, the social security arrangement of the USA government eventually gets impacted unfavorably. This is generally in terms of raising the taxes of social security and at certain times, cutting the retirement benefits provided to the retirees (Dineva, 2012). Apart from the above discussed issues, another issue that the USA has been facing in regaining industrial high ground is the requirement of comparatively high skilled workers along with experienced manpower to deal with the certain challenges in an efficient manner. It is quite obvious that as the Baby Boomers began to retire, whether through compulsion or voluntarily, the effects on certain occupations as well as industries and overall economy would be extensive. This will certainly generate a requirement for younger workers belonging to Gen Y, possessing advanced set of skills in order to fill the vacated positions. It has been evident that the commencement of Gen Y is bringing considerable changes into the place of work that requires being addressed and mitigated to the fullest extent. The changes can be apparently identified in terms of forming, developing and preserving a societal structure within both physical along with virtual business settings. In this present globalization and technology driven era, it is incessantly becoming challenging for various industries to sustain their businesses. In this regard, it can be stated that the USA might face certain problems due to the retirement of the Baby Boomers as they hold significant level of experience after working for a several number of years. However, the nation can address and mitigate this issue in terms of employing qualified and skillful workers belonging to the Gen Y, as they are viewed to be much tech savvy, collaborative, racially diverse and most importantly, socially more interconnected. In addition, a certain proportion of individuals from the Gen Y community are also identified to possess greater level of enthusiasm, keeping superior work/life balance and having the desire to work more in a flexible time schedule. In other words, it can be affirmed that the performance as well as the experience gap persisting between the Baby Boomers and the Gen Y is one of the major issues for the USA, as it has been facing in its pursuit to regain high industrial ground. In this similar context, the nation requires to address and mitigate the above discussed issues in an effective manner with the aim of developing its economy and most vitally, hold the topmost position in the context of high industrial ground (Dineva, 2012). 4. Issues Facing Companies Undertaking Strategic Developments There are many critical issues that the companies are facing while undertaking strategic developments. Few of these issues can be apparently observed as skill requirements, technological developments and mobility among others. In order to undertake strategic developmental measures, the US companies often face the issue of skill requirement and availability gaps due to the superannuation of the Baby Boomers. It can be affirmed in this regard that the retirement of the Baby Boomers eventually results in broader skills gap, generating a requirement for younger as well as active workforce. However, the companies are not able to fill the vacated jobs after the superannuation of the Baby Boomers due to inadequate skills or qualities and most importantly, insufficient work experiences held by the workers belonging to the Gen Y circle. It can be apparently observed in this regard that Baby Boomers possessed effective skills, qualities and experiences along with the passion for performing manual tasks, which, owing to their retirement, influenced the US companies to face the issue concerning skill requirements. This could be regarded as one of the potential reasons for the US companies to face the issue of skill requirement gaps while undertaking strategic development measures with the aim of attaining greater competitiveness (Pisano & Shih, 2009). Apart from facing the issue concerning skill requirement gaps, the US companies are often viewed to face problems in making greater technological developments while undertaking strategic advancements. It can be affirmed in this similar concern that the changing modern business scenario and the preferences of the customers have triggered the US companies to make broader technological developments in order to sustain their respective businesses in this competitive landscape. It is worth mentioning that the US companies had to face several technology related issues due to inadequate knowledge held by the workers belonging to the generation of the Baby Boomers regarding technological aspects, which resulted in losing their competitiveness in the business markets wherein they operate. However, the US companies can address and mitigate this issue as the workers belonging to the Gen Y group are observed as quite tech savvy in the form of incessantly accessing internet medium and familiarized with new along with pioneering technological advancements (Erickson, 2009). This might help the US companies in gaining superior competitive positioning over their chief business market competitors at large. It is quite obvious that the US companies often face the issue relating to mobility while undertaking strategic developments. This might be owing to the reason that the transformation of one particular group of people to other eventually makes the companies harder to develop appropriate organizational design and structure. In this similar context, the retirement of the Baby Boomers and the employment of the workers belonging to the Gen Y to fill the vacant job positions would impose unfavorable impacts on the companies towards maintaining the mobility factor. This could impede the competitiveness of the companies at large. In response, the companies require to employ highly productive and skilled set of workers from Gen Y, focusing much on the mobility factor for mitigating the above discussed issue (Dineva, 2012). 5. Conclusion As per the above conducted analysis and discussion, it can be comprehended that the USA had to face numerous issues in the context of regaining industrial high ground because of major social transformations along with shifts made by the Baby Boomers in the nation, which can be viewed in response to the persisting generation gaps in the workplaces. In this regard, the issues concerning instable reliance on social security and sustaining the existing financial position are noteworthy to mention. It can be affirmed in this regard that the superannuation of the Baby Boomers would impose extensive impacts on the entire US economy and on certain industries as well as occupations at large, principally due to the retirement of the Baby Boomers. This eventually urges the need for employing the workers of the Gen Y in order to fill the vacant positions. However, certain critical issues such as skills development and technological advancements within the internal business environment among others have been recognized to be currently faced by the US companies while undertaking decisions regarding strategic developments. These issues can be mitigated by way of employing quality and skilled workforce, resulting in attaining greater competitiveness. References Dineva, D. (2012). Baby boomers and their impact on the American economy. Baby Boomers, Gen Y and the Issues USA Face in Regaining Industrial High Ground, 3-24. Erickson, T. J. (2009). HBR case study. Harvard Business Review, 43-46. Fairfax Media. (2014). Talkin bout my label. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/talkin-bout-my-label-20110720-1ho7s.html Hewlett, S. A., Sherbin, L., & Sumberg, K. (2009). How Gen Y & Boomers will reshape your agenda. Harvard Business Review, 87, 1-8. Pisano, G. P., & Shih, W. C. (2009). Restoring American competitiveness. Harvard Business Review, 1-14. United Nations. (n.d.). Generation Y. Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y (and Generation Z) Working Together, 1-13. Read More