Retirement & the Baby Boomer Generation

BoomerI thought it was odd that Jack Ma of Alibaba decided to retire at the age of 48 to “turn the reins over to a new generation.” At my company the Boomers are staying even longer than usual. Any insight into the retirement issue for Boomer leaders?

Bonnie’s Answer:

The squeeze for the Boomers is getting tighter and tighter. They have retirement coming from one direction and Gen X and Gen Y coming from the other direction. Many are loosening the knot on their ties and wondering “Is it starting to get hot in here?”

Here’s the issue: We now have three primary generations in the United States’ workforce. This workforce is currently estimated at approximately 140 million between the ages of 20 to 60.

The massive Generation Y (born between 1985 and 2004) 79.5 million

1. The massive Generation Y (born between 1985 and 2004) 79.5 million
2. The small Generation X (born between 1965 and 1984) 69.5 million
3. The current king of the mountain—the Baby Boomers(born between 1945 and 1964) 78.2 million

(dates and numbers vary slightly depending on the source)

The Boomers with their huge numbers are now at the top of most organizations. Many who were planning to retire by now, haven’t due to a shaky economy and now, they have clogged the leadership pipeline. They may not be enjoying the extended stay very much either. Boomers sitting in today’s suite seats are not able to sit back and enjoy the executive perks. They have to bring their A Game every day to keep up with the creative demands of the younger generation, technology changing at the speed of light, the ever-changing marketplace and government policies and a very litigious environment to top it all off. It takes a lot of energy and stamina and some Boomers may not wish to live at this level of intensity at this stage in their lives.

One of the most overwhelming challenges for Boomer leaders is the speed at which technology is changing and this may be why Jack Ma felt it was time to leave Alibaba . Technology is changing everything. The solutions that have worked for the past 100 years no longer work. Some leaders are willing to dig in and learn new ways of doing things while others feel that it’s too much to learn and it’s time to pass the baton. The workplace game has changed for everyone, so it’s no surprise that the players are starting to change as well.