What’s Happening in the Workplace

Boomers, Gen Xers, a few Traditionals and the newest addition to the workforce, Gen Z, are all affecting the way we do business. This week scary stats are focused on how these factors are shaping the world at work.

By now you’ve come to accept (we hope) that we’ve undergone the largest generational shift of our time. Millennials make up the biggest piece of the population pie and they’re going to be around for a while. We took a glimpse into world of Millennials last week (check it out), but they aren’t the only players in the game. Boomers, Gen Xers, a few Traditionals and the newest addition to the workforce, Gen Z, are all affecting the way we do business. This week scary stats are focused on how these factors are shaping the world at work.

Trends

1. 54% of adults in the labor force say it will be essential for them to get training and develop new skills in order to keep up with changes in the workplace. (source)

2. Union membership peaked in 1954 at nearly 35% of all U.S. wage and salary workers, but in 2015 the unionization rate was just 11.1%. (source)

3. More older Americans are working. In May of this year, 18.8% of Americans ages 65 and older – nearly 9 million people – reported being employed full- or part-time, continuing a steady increase since at least 2000. (source)

4. Only 31.3% of teens are working summer jobs, compared to 58% in 1978. Only 20% of younger teens (16-17) had summer jobs last year, less than half its level as recently as 2000. (source)

5. Nearly 15 million Americans are self-employed. (source)

Engagement and Job Security

1. 52% of executives believe Gen X workers are the most engaged generation. (source)

2. Only 29% of Millennials are engaged at work. (source)

3. 49% of American workers say they are very satisfied with their current job. (source)

4. 51% of employed Americans say they get a sense of identity from their job, while 47% say their job is just what they do for a living. (source)

5. 60% of employed Americans say it is not at all likely that they will lose their job or be laid off in the next 12 months. (source)

Wages

1. In 2014, the median compensation for a 30-year-old was $19.30 an hour—practically the same as it was for Baby Boomers in 1984 when adjusted for inflation and more than $1 less than it was for Generation X workers in 2004. (source)

2. College graduates ages 25 to 34 working full time in 2015 earned more $20,000 more annually than employed young adults holding only a high school diploma. (source)

3. The chief executive officers of America’s largest firms earn three times more than they did 20 years ago and at least 10 times more than 30 years ago. (source)

4. Overall, 58% of Americans favor increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15. (source)

Retirement

1. Baby Boomers are expected to retire at a rate of 10,000 per day through at least 2030, when almost 73 million Americans will be age 65 or older. (source)

2. Millennials who start their careers with $30,000 in student loans could find they have $325,000 less in retirement savings compared to debt-free peers. (source)

3. One quarter of employees are not saving enough money to receive their employer’s 401K match. On average, those employees are missing out on an extra $1,336 a year. Overall, Americans are losing an estimated $24 billion every year in matching contributions. (source)

4. 48% of pre-retirees don’t have plans for generating income in retirement. (source)

5. Only 11% of workers called themselves “confident” about the investing they do through their employer-sponsored retirement plan. (source)