In an article for Forbes, MIT AgeLab Director Joseph Coughlin writes that Gen X and Baby Boomer retirement may contribute to a shortage in many different fields, such as nursing and long-term care.
Over the next decade the Millennials will be approaching peak caregiver years supporting their aging parents and loved ones. Similar to many adult children before them, they will seek professional help. Unfortunately, many Millennials may come up short in their search. There is likely to be a shortage of workers in the nation’s senior housing and aging services industry. According to the American Health Care Association - National Center for Assisted Living the long-term care industry lost more than 400,000 workers since the beginning of the pandemic.
Major sectors of the economy are not finding the workers they need. Shortfalls in pilots, truck drivers, clinicians, trade and construction workers, farmers and many others professions were forecasted long before COVID, but the early exit of many workers was accelerated by the pandemic. Early retirements, population aging, and burnout explains much of the accelerated labor market shift. However, the coming shortfall is about more than pandemic burnout and is not as simple as too few workers.