The Silver Tsunami is, I guess, some sort of twisted term of endearment for us Baby Boomers beginning to retire at higher and higher rates. Meanwhile, employers across the nation with growing dependency on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills are scrapping to find people to fill jobs. As with most all things 21st century, industry with the most forward-looking, flexible, innovative, human resourcing strategies are likely to win the industry talent search.
OLD IS OLD
Whether we’re talking about retaining great employees or finding the great employees of the future, 20th century ways of doing business are becoming less and less attractive to young people growing up in the 21st century world. Human resourcing systems restricted to linear-think—that is, demanding a traditional sequence of high school, then college, then graduate degree, and an internship here and there—are going to become more and more irrelevant to a generation born and reared in the techno-sphere where the only thing left linear is the concept of time . . . and that’s starting to bend. Industry recognizes a growing need that old-HR is failing to meet. Rest assured that businesses without vision that are devoted to old-HR strategies are proverbial frogs in the warming waters.
RE-IMAGINE RESOURCING
Business experts are encouraging forward-leaning businesses large and small to fill needs with what some Baby Boomer business leaders may have previously avoided. Congressional Research Service’s study “Vulnerable Youth: Employment and Job Training Programs” reports, “Certain young people—such as high school dropouts, current and former foster youth, and other at-risk populations—face challenges in completing school and entering the workforce.” Why? Again, CRS explains, “Certain young people in particular—including those from low-income families, high school dropouts, foster youth, and other at-risk populations—face barriers to completing school and entering the workforce.” Some rightly call this population “Opportunity Youth.”
OPPORTUNITY YOUTH
The United States military has embraced “Opportunity Youth” for a while now. If The Greatest Generation is to be believed, opportunity youth went a long way in building the foundations of American industry on which Baby Boomers have stood. And as technology advances at faster and faster rates, the military has been actively and aggressively recruiting opportunity youth and growing them into valuable, marketable, experienced leaders, IT experts . . . any variety of the STEM disciples.
Three important points not to miss. First, the military is an old hand at welcoming unrefined human resources and refining them into pure gold, so if you’re industry is wondering how to build a Sorcerer’s Stone, spend some time studying how Defense does it. Obviously, it works. Second, rather than waiting for the military to refine those resources, get ahead of the game and start refining them yourself. Third, and perhaps the most important point to understand—minds are just as bright, hope just as strong (if not stronger), and potential just as prolific among the “at-risk” population. Look at me—I was born and raised PWT in the Appalachian Mountains.
FOR INSTANCE
Take a look at Forbes contributor Michael Echols’ piece, “The Looming Cybersecurity Crisis And Why Opportunity Youth Are The Solution.” Echols writes, “According to the agency charged with tallying statistics on the cyber talent gap, there are over 1 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs right now. It is projected that this number will grow to 1.5 million by 2020. It is clear that we are not matching the capacity of the growing legions of cybercriminals with our own increased number U.S. experts who serve as our most important line of defense against them.”
While the government has done some to propel at-risk people into the workforce (see CRS’s study on Employment and Job Training Programs), Echols argues that “the government has not created effective pathways to employment in the cybersecurity field for Opportunity Youth, the 6 million young adults in the United States who are out of school and unemployed or underemployed.”
Echols’ solution? Citing just one program already in place, Year Up, Echols reminds that a “solution that introduces youth to cybersecurity and provides them with real work-based experiences can both expand opportunity for our country’s young people and keep our nation safe from the cybersecurity threats of today and tomorrow.” Further, he encourages the cybersecurity sector to “support the expansion of such solutions to bring a new generation of driven, talented individuals to the daily cybersecurity fight and help the nation meet its growing skills shortfall.”
There’s a world of talent out there waiting for smart people to mine.
