This article originally appeared in Forbes
Among the myriad issues confronting the U.S. economy today, one major challenge receives little attention: an aging workforce and the impact of demographic trends on nearly every industry's ability to innovate, grow and replenish itself.
Statistics compiled by the Population Reference Bureau suggest the number of Americans 65 and older will almost double from just over 50 million people to 95 million by the year 2060.
In 2018, about 24% of men and 16% of women over the age of 65 were active participants in the labor force, figures which, pre-pandemic, were projected to rise to 26% and 18%, respectively, in 2026. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics concurs that older workers' share of the workforce will grow, having previously projected an expansion of more than 4% for workers 65 to 74 by 2024 and more than 6% for workers 75 and older.
These are modest gains — but not enough to stop a looming crisis. Especially in the field service industry, older professionals have started to leave their roles in large numbers.
Numerous enterprises have expressed concern about both knowledge loss related to the retiring workforce and an insufficient pool of incoming workers. A gap has opened between the two, growing wider as existing workers retire and new graduates avoid service or technical careers.
Enterprises that have integrated technology into their everyday operations will, without question, be better prepared for this uncertain future than those that have not. They can hold on to the knowledge assets of experienced professionals while attracting and retaining bright, new talent who can apply valuable skills to critical field service operations.
One U.K. survey found that half of large employers reported difficulty recruiting the right people for open roles, with technicians being the fourth hardest type of position to fill. And while scores of prospective employees have a number of transferable skills, adapting these to the needs of a job is generally time-consuming and expensive.
Consider the example of visual support as a potential solution. The immersive capabilities of such tools as augmented reality (AR) and the insights provided by artificial intelligence (AI) can prepare the next generation of labor while also driving crucial operational improvements.
Visual support nurtures more effective and personalized learning. Overlaying interactive virtual objects and data onto a real-world scenario, a new technician can be guided through maintenance, repair and troubleshooting tasks at their own pace. In theory, the learning curve can be adjusted from person to person, meeting each trainee where they are in their skill development journey.
However, such technologies are only as useful as the algorithms they are fed. To boot, there are some things that — at least for now — digital solutions can't be taught, including understanding conversational nuance and meaningfully empathizing with human feelings. This can limit the training experience, particularly for customer-facing functions.
Another problem faced by enterprises in a number of industries, from restaurants and hotels to long-term care, is workers absorbing crucial skills that they then take and apply elsewhere. Retention issues are another facet of the workforce crisis, one that will need to be handled, especially as new positions created by retiring workers become harder to fill.
Figuring out what draws their best talent away will involve companies mapping the worker experience from start to finish and identifying the pain points of their day-to-day experiences on the job.
What, for example, is the most tedious or inefficient aspect of their role? Can handing that aspect over to an automated process make workers feel freer to focus on more creative tasks?
To get here, adopting (or improving) cloud-based data software is an essential place to start. Not only does strong, readily accessible data help rapidly identify pain points, but it can even help with decisions about the technologies that could best resolve a problem situation for workers.
Just be aware that there will be unequal outcomes between companies that implement cloud data. Time and resource constraints mean many enterprises won't be able to continuously change their processes in response to the newly acquired data.
Still, as workers of all ages are more determined than ever before to find meaningful and sustainable roles, making their operations more efficient by incorporating technology can strengthen an enterprise's foundation.
As companies adjust to a much different looking workforce, there's ample opportunity to increase preparedness for the future. A more widespread embrace of digital tools will go a long way to turn these changes from crisis mode to a natural — and even welcome — evolution in how people work.
