Today’s organizations are facing an unprecedented amount of change that almost 90% of executives recognize and believe will be important to address (Gartner, 202). Two important changes occurring today that will have implications for organizations and their leaders is the increasing aging workforce along with a growing multi-generational, multi-cultural segment of the workforce and consumer.
The Growing Multi-generational (particularly Aging) Demographic
Today there are more 60-year-olds than there are five-year-olds, and this segment of society has a $22 trillion market share. The U.S. similar to many other countries has an increasing labor shortage with an aging workforce. The number to replace today’s workforce is 2.1 and includes births, deaths, immigration, and emigration (Coughlin, 2017). The U.S. is at 2.0 and what’s keeping it here is a growing younger multi-cultural workforce (in particular Latino).
What is interesting is that as the U.S. ages, there are those who are reconsidering retirement or restarting work. A Forbes article pointed out that in 2023 the fastest-growing demographic in the workforce were those over 75 (Lucas, 2023). While this is happening, Harvard Business Review highlighted a study in 2019 that found that two-thirds of 10,000 organizations considered an older workforce a competitive disadvantage which creates an interesting contradiction (Bersin & Chamorro, 2019).
This is probably reinforced by myths that older workers cost too much. Yet there is research (Taylor & Lebo, 2019) that does not back this up or that what is not taken into consideration is the older workforce’s experience and expertise. Another is that the older workforce is less productive. Yet research has found that 65% of the older workers are more engaged.
What this older workforce has also been credited with is having interpersonal skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, problem-solving, listening, and empathy among others. These are skills in much demand for today and tomorrow’s workplace and will not be replaced by AI. Something that the younger workforce is sometimes found to be lacking. This is occurring while there is a growing skills shortage in the workplace
The growing multicultural (particularly Latino) workforce
Behind this aging workforce is a growing younger and multi-cultural workforce, in particular Latino. The U.S. is the second country in the world with 63 million Latino legal citizens. The U.S. has more Latinos than Canada has Canadians or Spain has Spaniards. One of the generations in the workforce and a major segment in the workplace and society are the millennials that are almost 50% Latino.
Between 2020 and 2030 it is expected that 78% of the new U.S. workers will be Latino Americans (Martinez, 2024). Latinos make up 25% of the U.S. workforce, their average age is 27 compared to 40 for non-Latinos, and they have a 3.4 trillion purchasing power, which would make them 5th in the world from a GDP perspective if they were a country. To put it in perspective, in 2015, Forbes had an article titled “Without Hispanics, U.S. Corporations Can’t Grow and Compete”, which seems even more relevant and timely today for corporations. This demographic is a key player in the workplace and as a consumer.
This brings two interesting business issues that leaders should be increasingly aware of. One is the business case for a multicultural workforce that has been highlighted in numerous studies and books, in spite of the continual negative press. Having a diverse workforce or leadership team positively impacts performance and decision-making, generates higher revenue per employee, and executive diverse teams see higher returns.
The second is the unconscious biases that we as humans have. Unconscious bias has been defined as a process that occurs outside of our awareness and allows us to make quick decisions. A few of these biases include distance, which means we prefer to work with others who are closer, hence the debate on return-to-office (RTO) and working remotely or in a hybrid way. A second one is the similarity bias which means we connect quicker with those that have similar experiences and backgrounds to ours. A third one is the expedience bias, where we tend to depend on quicker decision-making. Something for leaders to consider is how these biases might impact their decisions and leadership effectiveness.
The numbers and changing demographic workforce will create different organizational challenges, opportunities, and dynamics. Leaders need to increasingly be aware of these changes, their biases, and what they mean for their organizations as these human capital trends will continue to have implications on organizations and their culture. LEADERS need to consider taking a comprehensive approach as they face these changes:
Learn – to be aware of their own biases. Whether it’s about an older or multi-cultural workforce.
Engage – ensure they are creating an engaging workplace experience.
Adapt – to the changing workforce expectations.
Develop – themselves and their teams as change continues.
Experience – create an inclusive and psychologically safe workplace experience.
Recognize – today’s workforce is looking for purpose and appreciation over a paycheck.
Systems – taking a holistic approach with 21st-century policies and practices.
In summary, these demographic organizational, and societal changes will have workplace and consumer implications for organizations and their leaders.
An organization focused on helping leaders and their organizations help themselves by creating more Human Intelligent (HI) workplaces in the growing era of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edwin Mourin᷁o – Ruiz, Ph.D.
Dr. Edwin Mouriño is an Air Force veteran, author, Human Capital, and DEI practitioner and speaker. As a human capital practitioner, Dr. Mouriño’s focus has been on helping leaders and organizations help themselves. He is an experienced professional with many years of leading and/or supporting key elements of organizational change projects. Dr. Mouriño is an Air Force veteran who began his career in Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as a graduate of the DOD-Defense Equal Opportunity & Management Institute (DEOMI) and has also been a speaker.
He brings broad industry experience that includes Fortune 100 companies. He is the founder and president of Human Intelligent (HI) Workplace, an organization focused on helping leaders help themselves through leadership, team development, and executive coaching. He has been and continues to serve as a college professor. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Conference Board on the DEI and Leadership Steering Committees.
He has extensive experience and thought leadership on Human Capital issues and supported organizational change efforts through Leadership Development, DEI, Executive Coaching, Team Development, Executive Retreats, Personality Assessments, and Organizational Change. He has spoken at numerous professional venues and written numerous articles on human capital trends impacting organizations, specifically addressing DE, and is the author and co-editor of several books.
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