During the 1990s, the number of younger workers in Italy declined by 14% due to lower birth rates following the post-World War II baby boom from 1946-1964. At the same time, the overall workforce only grew by 1.5-2% over 20 years. This resulted in a 30% shortage of younger workers in the 1990s, and projections indicate an even greater shortfall in coming decades as Generation X ages. The document suggests that this talent shortage means employers will need to find ways to retain older workers for longer to fill key roles, as they will no longer be able to easily replace retiring boomers and older generations with younger talent.

1. The
New
Retirement
Story
in
Italy
(9A)
By
Peter
de
Kuster
with
Falco
Valkenburg
The
Talent
Shortage.
Benetton
During
the
1990s
the
number
of
younger
workers
declined
by
14
percent
because
of
the
lower
birth
rate
that
followed
the
baby
boom
of
1946-­‐1964.
Coinciding
with
the
shrinkage
of
the
pool
of
younger
workers
has
been
a
workforce
that
has
grown
only
1.5
to
2
percent
over
the
last
20
years.
When
you
look
at
these
two
trends
together,
the
picture
you
get
is
that
the
1990s
saw
a
30
percent
shortage
of
younger
workers
and
the
coming
decade
will
see
an
even
greater
shortfall.
This
trend
will
continue
for
the
next
few
decades
as
Generation
`X
ages.

2.
The
obvious
good
news
for
you
is
that
there
just
won’t
be
enough
young
talent
available
to
fill
your
shoes
should
you
be
inclined
to
leave
the

3. workforce
in
the
next
20
to
30
years.
Employers
are
going
to
have
to
make
changes
to
keep
you
around
for
a
longer
period
of
time.
Unitl
recently,
companies
could
afford
to
let
older
workers
walk
out
the
door.
Now,
with
the
beginning
of
the
boomer
aging
trend,
companies
have
nowhere
to
turn
to
but
the
current
worker.