It may seem like ancient history today, but the baby boom that followed the Second World War spurred a massive shift in the US labor market. As the boomers came of age, the economy was suddenly flush with millions of new workers looking for jobs. The working-age population jumped by 17% in the 1960s and by another 19% in the following decade. If you were looking to hire, times were good.
But the boomers, unlike their parents, didn’t have many babies themselves. The pill and the legalization of abortion sent fertility rates cratering — from 3.7 babies per woman in 1960 to 1.8 babies a decade and a half later. For a few decades, an influx of women and immigrants into the workforce kept the labor pool expanding. But by 2000, the rising supply of female workers reached its peak. And after Donald Trump took office, immigration took a nosedive. That meant there were no new workers left to hire, just as the first of the baby boomers were starting to retire.
Source: The Baby Boomer Retirement Surge Will Spark a Forever Labor Shortage
There is a TikTok video that went viral, from a 21 year old who claims that Baby Boomers had it easy getting jobs and never had to deal with inflation. She is wrong on almost every word she utters – Go here to see the facts in easily understandable charts.
If she is having trouble finding a job she needs to look in the mirror. Unemployment today is 3.4%. Go to the link to see what things looked like in 1980.
Today’s young generation has a world of opportunity in front of them – and tight labor means they will not have to be over educated (like my generation was) to compete with the huge supply of labor. Today’s opportunities are incredible.
Fast promotions (look at the airline industry where new pilots are promoted to Captain in 5 years versus 15 in the past),
Where people without subject matter degrees are promoted to management (unlike my era where I was told at every job I held, that I could not take a position, not because I lacked skills but because I lacked the right graduate degree.)
Post pandemic too, but also due to the labor shortage – work flexibility will be widespread. From a past of 2 weeks vacation per year, no leave options, and required in-office work, today’s white collar workers often have great flexibility.
