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In the past few years, many leaders within industry and government have begun to discuss and debate the potential impact of the "silver tsunami." The "silver tsunami," as it has been cleverly named, is the projected mass exodus of knowledge, leadership, and experience that will leave the workforce as millions of Baby Boomers retire. Many of these leaders initiated, led and worked through the past 40 years of environmental advocacy, protection, and innovation.
As these leaders transition out of their formal careers, will the United States lose any momentum behind the "green wave" that has grown in its breadth and consequence throughout government, industry, research, and innovation particularly in the past few years?
Baby Boomers have been thought leaders, designers, and managers of pragmatic solutions as the U.S. has transitioned to a more "green economy." Could the transition of Boomers to retirement implode and crush efforts toward a more sustainable economy?
To remain competitive in a fast-paced global economy we need to be accountable to ourselves and to future generations by taking a hard look at bridging the knowledge gap that could result from this generational workforce transition.
Transfer of Wealth Should be Grounded in Both Financial and Intellectual Resources
According to the Alliance for Aging Research, beginning this year, 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65 every day, "and continue to do so for the next for 20 years." Further, "by 2030, almost one out of every five Americans -- some 72 million people -- will be 65 years or older. By 2050, the 65+ population is projected to be between 80 and 90 million, with those 85 and older close to 21 million."
Next page: The Implications of the "silver tsunami"
You raise a very good point,
You raise a very good point, this generational transition comes at a very interesting time, we will need all that experience. However, I feel you are underplaying the flips-side of the silver tsunami...
Lets expand the boundaries you are talking about to the whole economy, not just the minority relating to sustainability.
As a 25 yo in the UK, I've always considered the progressive ageing and retirement of the generation you talk about as a massive boost to the green economy.
I've always felt I was from a different generation to my siblings, as they are between 40 and 32...I believe they are X and I am Y. My parents are Boomers, being 60 and 65. It is quite a rare example of three generations for the price of 2 as it were. I've felt this since I was quite young, but a relevant example of this is that when I speak to anyone my age, they are highly aware of green issues and much more open to discussing changes to the fundamentals of society and the economy...by contrast, my siblings do not engage nearly as much on these issues. I look at my friends and think when they reach the positions my siblings are in, they will naturally drive sustainability and green issues far harder and in a far more innovative and integrated way. Not just because that's how it will have to be done in 10 to 20 years time, but because it is stems from their perception and experiences of a different world.
At the core of the differences between X and Y is one truth:
The green economy will have to be fundamentally different from the current one to deliver the changes we need...and it so so difficult to imagine and move towards a new paradigm when all your experience is rooted to the old paradigm.
My siblings, in their formative 20s, benefited from the best boom years...and learnt economics during the hay-day of free-market capitalism. How could they change a system that has done them so well?
For my friends and I, we have come into employment during a great recession, with issues in society and the environment reaching crisis point. All three aspects of sustainability...all being operated in an unsustainable way...it sure makes an impression when you're going to be alive for the next 60 years!
Imagine when you take that and apply it to lawmakers, voters and consumers. Massive change.
So whilst I see your argument that the experience gap will be bad for the green economy and sustainability, the shift towards new thinking, new rules, new paradigms...will do wonders for it.