In his session for the World of Asphalt People, Plants and Paving Digital Conference (March 9-11, 2021), Buddy Hobart of Solutions 21 describes the historically unusual place paving contractors find themselves in when searching for talent.
“I don’t speak in absolutes unless it’s absolute. There have never ever been four generations of breadwinners in the workforce. It’s never happened in the history of humanity. I want you to think about that,” Hobart explains. “Now there’s five. Historically there’s never been four, and now there’s five.”
Hobart explained each generation's place in the workforce this way:
- The Traditionalists (1922-1945), the youngest of which turn 76 this year, are still participating in the labor force. They may be running your company…or your biggest client.
- The Traditionalists (1922-1945), the youngest of which turn 76 this year, are still participating in the labor force. They may be running your company…or your biggest client.
- Generation X (1965-1979), born at the dawn of the computing age, are bringing their classic tech savvy to higher and higher positions.
- Generation Y/Millennials (1980-2000) are the biggest generation (yes, bigger than the Boomers), and are nearly all engaged in the workforce at this point. The youngest Millennials will be ordering their first legal beer this year.
- Generation Z (2001-) is starting to enter the workforce in serious numbers now, making them the unprecedented fifth generation to participate at the same time.
“There are 78 million Baby Boomers, and 60 million Gen X. It has never happened before that there wasn’t enough of the next generation to replace the retiring generation,” Hobart says. “That means we have to bring up the following generations quicker, because of the next issue: It’s a statistical certainty that Baby Boomers are going to be fully retirement-age by the end of this decade.”
Hobart, in his session scheduled March 11, goes on to explain strategies to find the talent paving contractors need to fill their team, and how to lead these diverse crews in a way that gets the job done.
To register and check out all the sessions, visit WorldOfAsphalt.com.
