Human Capital and Aging - The Work Force Across Generations #22

Hi all! In this post I share a brief summary of an article that found I so interesting, I even shared it with my supervisor. After the summary is a brief paragraph of my thoughts as I relate my experiences to some of the statements in the article. I encourage you to read with an open mind and light-heartedness, on my behalf, although the subject may be serious.

The article is called " America's government is getting older". I have include the link to the text below. The article raises and discusses questions related to the "Silver Tsunami", hiring of government agencies, and what seems to be a call to action for recruiting younger people into postions. The article is geared toward jobs within the federal government. There is discussion of ageism in today's workforce and how thriving companies have a good balance of workers of many ages. It notes that more master's degrees are held by federal works than workers of the private sector. The article goes on to share how human capital officers are striving to recruit younger workers as the number of young workers in the federal government is relatively low. The question raised is, "Who's going to begin to replace the aging workforce, and what's going to happen when they do?"

This article interests me as I am budding in my career after college. I am currently in graduate school and start classes next week. I've been at my first career job for a year and two months now, and I agree with many of the article's points related to the lack of appeal for government jobs (especially for the workforce ranging from ages 20 - 35). I do not work a federal job now but I am employed by a large agency that usually runs like a well-oiled machine. I have noticed at work and at school how some older adults shy away from technology or avoid it if they can...some I said, not all. Many millennials began technology training in kindergarten. Now we have toddlers at ages two and three operating tablets and cell phones. Think about this, my school had mandatory computer classes when I was in kindergarten. In my adult life, when technology malfunctions it is very inconvenient because I rely on it so much. On the other hand, one of the oldest employees at said agency enjoys and has been allowed to opportunity to utilize all paper documentation. I think it awesome that he was not forced to utilize a system he is not comfortable with.

I am interested in these things because I have a heart for people and for the world as a whole. I want to contribute to positive change and be supportive of the things that move us along.

Thanks for reading! What do you think? Is this a serious situation? I hope you read the article as well and share your thoughts with me! Share any related articles as I would love to read them!

https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/27/aging-government-workforce-analysis-000525