More solutions are offered by the very 2.0 generations of tools; if you’re a youngster living in Eastern Europe, for example – unless you’re a programmer – it’s very unlikely that you’ll get the opportunity to look at the jobs that you would be very much able to perform remotely with a little bit of coaching.

Perhaps as Gen Y comes into its own and begins to be forced to capitalize on technology in the same way that it seems Gen X has, the increased productivity will offset the lack of bodies to some degree. While Gen X has been more effective at mobilizing tech for business purposes so far, I don’t doubt that the lifetime of exposure to computers that has been the experience of Gen Y will allow them to find applications that can’t even begin to be predicted.

Perhaps this is overoptimism, hubris, or naivete as I am a Gen Yer myself. However, personal experience shows that many of the most beneficial aspects of modern engineering software are barely being taken advantage of by major, major manufacturing corporations and massive amounts of capability are waiting in the wings for someone to understand and capitalize on. I think it is good to remember that the internet is not the only way to capitalize on modern computational capabilities.

I believe the law of accelerating returns is working in our favor and we might be able, to some degree, to absorb the projected the manpower deficiency.

Maybe we should all start to consider the implications of statements like : “one-third of the population will be over the age of 50!”. The people who are 50 and over today are a far cry from being over the hill – it would be a good idea to harness their capabilities, skills and knowledge, tempered with that of any other Generation that is around. Collaboration and all of its synonyms mean that don’t they?

Canned Heat some while ago: “Together we stand…”

Rob

Ben – thanks for the comment about the potential productivity boost related to Net Gen employees. That’s the main argument against the talent crunch; that fewer workers will do more with less (I’ll also refer readers to Dan’s post “Labor shortage?“). I certainly agree that most industries employ an underutilized workforce – certainly in manufacturing, but also in the service industry, call centers, retail, sales and marketing, and probably many others as well.

Rob, good point. In fact I think the Baby Boom will turn the whole notion of retirement on its head. There’s actually a company out there called YourEncore which is built specifically around the idea of harnessing the underutilized talents of an aging workforce and tapping into their expertise.

[...] generational uses of networking on the Wikinomics blog – ”A Digital Generation“ and ”GenX and the Real Talent Crunch“. The bit that was most intriguing was this, from ”GenX and the Real Talent [...]