Companies Fretting about Brain Drain

At least 90% of respondents in every sector expect retirements to significantly increase the loss of knowledge and expertise, according to the news release from Career Partners International/Torchiana, Mastrov & Sapiro. Sectors most concerned about their loss of competitive edge due to retirements included business services, government, manufacturing, and utilities

The news release said 64% of respondents thought retiring workers would have a significant impact on their organization but only 34% anticipated making changes to employment practices or benefits to make their organization more attractive for current employees or recruits

Large and small firms had different expectations about the impact of retiring workers; 73% of large organizations and 59% of small organizations expected at least a significant impact on their entity

“What is most concerning is that the industries that expect the most serious impacts from retirements seem least likely to change their recruitment and retention programs,” says Bill Torchiana, president of Torchiana, Mastrov & Sapiro, in the announcement. “The recent recession may have masked the imminent danger posed by the looming retirement of highly skilled baby boomers, but the reality is that we are losing an entire generation of highly skilled experts and the decades of knowledge that they possess.”

The survey included more than 1,600 individuals from 26 countries including 560 senior executives and 700 HR executives and managers.

Torchiana, Mastrov & Sapiro is a founding member of Career Partners International (CPI), a provider of talent management solutions with more than 160 offices in over 20 countries around the world.  More information is at www.torchiana.com.