Where is the brain drain?
The Baby Boomer retirement crisis has been like a guillotine poised over the heads of IT executives for a couple of years now. I’ve seen reams and reams of research papers, white papers, press releases and vendor pitches on how to deal with this crisis. We’re all waiting for the so-called brain drain to strike. Analysts and vendors are offering up oodles of good advice on how to prepare for it.
First, there is the advice on how to identify which parts of your organizations are at risk. Then there is the advice on how to make sure you retain the business knowledge and legacy technology skills that these retirees will take with them. Then there is the research on how to find replacement labor in a world where universities are producing fewer and fewer technologists.
But is the brain drain happening yet?
I’ve also read that many Baby Boomers are planning to work past retirement age. I’ve talked to several former CIOs who retired in their early sixties, yet they continue to work part time or full time as consultants. One fellow I talked to recently retired in his mid-sixties from his position as CIO of a government agency, and he planned to start a small consultancy to keep himself busy with part-time work. Before he knew it, another government agency in crisis came calling and he was working as an interim CIO for half a year.
The first Boomers are turning 62 this year. Fifty years ago, 62 was considered pretty old. These days, 62-year-olds are starting third careers.
So my question is this: Are any of you starting to lose Baby Boomers to retirement? What sort of business knowledge and legacy skills are they taking with them? And how are you dealing with it?
I’d love to hear from you. Write me at smcgillicuddy@techtarget.com.
Posted: August 14th, 2007 under Career and salary, Outsourcing.
I’m a baby boomer (born in 1951) and I’m not planning to retire any time soon.
I’m currently adding other skills to my skill set, but I’m a consultant that works on the J.D. Edwards World package (considered by most to be legacy AS/400 software), and as long as the work holds out I intend to be working well into my 70’s.
Comment by Late Boomer — August 15, 2007 @ 11:48 am
As a 1948 baby, I’m just about in the middle of the Boom. I retired (took a redundancy, actually) from my school, where I taught Computing at senior high school level (matriculation to university) and have since started a small consultancy which keeps me interested and busy, and I cannot see this ending anytime soon. With the advent of Vista on the desktop, and the proliferation of peripherals available for the average punter, I will be still learning well into my 70s and possibly beyond.
My background in the DOS era grounds my understanding of the difficulties the current users have, and my teaching background allows me to explain processes in easy steps for the punters.
Comment by John Attwood — August 15, 2007 @ 4:40 pm
This is bullshit. There are plenty of awesome IT candidates out there, myself included, who wouldn’t even get past the front door with my resume. Employers need to look past their absurd requirement degrees - I left an Ivy league college years without a degree ago because I found I wanted to be in total control of my own education. I can run circles around any college graduate.
Comment by ANARCHY-TV.COM — August 15, 2007 @ 6:02 pm
I was born in 1957, by sticking with legacy systems,a few years ago, I was out of work for about a year. Finally I got the opportunity to expand my skills set with newer technology (due to my masters in IT), but I still don’t have enough experience, and struggle to work with the newer technologies. Recently, I have interviewed for legacy/mainframe positions, but now they say that it’s been too long since I’ve used the mainframe technology, or the pay is so low that I can’t maintain my lifestyle. So, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I hate it when they say they can’t find people.
Comment by Stuck — August 15, 2007 @ 8:53 pm
I’m a boomer born in 51, I work for a state agency and we are seeing a drain, mostly because we are one of the few places that still have pensions, so people leave at an earlier age. I retooled myself from a mainframer to client server to java, but I am finding myself being drawn back into mainframe work (against my will) because of the loss of the experienced folks here.
Comment by 51Boomer — August 16, 2007 @ 10:57 am
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If I were looking to hire, I’d steer away from people like anarchy-tv simply because of the attitude. The degree is not a body of knowl;edge, it is an indication of application and dedication to a task over a time period, something anarchy-tv seems not to have. Hire them and how long would they stay??
Especially in the SMB arena, the costs associated with readvertising, reinterviewing etc would mean that the attitude displayed by anarchy-tv (rather than the CV) would be the thing that got them culled from interview.
Self praise is no recommendation.
Comment by John Attwood — August 16, 2007 @ 11:53 pm
Born in 1961, in Asia (may be disqualified, anyway..) In my mid 40s, i agree with AnarchyTVCOM above that the industry is still stupid and that can be good. Reinventing my technical self always, i been out and in and out again. Since it is still a very who-u-know world to be useful, i usually take away good social skills to get to know those whos. We live in too interesting times to be left out. There can be no retirement.
Comment by Redhuan D Oon — August 17, 2007 @ 6:29 am
The so-called ‘brain drain’ is just another imaginary problem thought-up by people trying to justify their reporting jobs. It is no different than the ’shortage’ of American I.T. workers, engineers, etc. which the papers all report. In a free market system, there would be no skills shortage if salaries increased for in-demand skills. From the jobs I’ve seen advertised, $25-$35/hour for COBOL programmers, there isn’t any shortage of skilled people, just a shortage of people willing to work for what companies want to pay.
Comment by Bill — August 20, 2007 @ 9:53 am
I am an old mainframer (programmer, systems analyst, DBA) turned management a while back. There is a bias towards us Boomers (I’m 53, so I am a really young Boomer), and once I found myself out of favor at one employer, the streets are not a pretty place to be. I can still dream in COBOL and remember my technology skills like it was yesterday. I would take a tech job if anyone would give serious consideration to people who’s skills are not fresh. I think the brain power is out there and will be available for a long time, but the employer needs to understand they can’t be looking for the same packaging expected of other technicians. Management positions are as tough as employers think they can find experienced management who also have the more recent tech skills so they can hands on coach, and unfortuantely (for them)they favor the latter skill.
Comment by Consultant Mike — August 20, 2007 @ 11:19 am
I agree with John Attwood as far as his analysis of ANARCHY-TV.COM. You can see why ‘anarchy’ would hide behind an anonymous fictional name. Attitudes like that amaze me. You can’t commit to finishing a degree and then state you can run circles around any college graduate. All you have shown to anyone is that you cannot finish what you start. You ain’t Bill Gates, but HE requires a degree to work for him. Maybe you can learn a lesson there, but I doubt it. You look real “AWESOME” running in circles and all that means is you don’t know where you are going. You start out and finish in the same place. That’s good in a track and field meet or a car race but not the working world.
However, that being said, had Mr. Anarchy made a comment to the point where the other skills requirements that are listed are ridiculous then I would agree. I know of no place that can teach all of the skill sets required in one location. By skill sets I mean software packages, hardware platforms, and certifications that they want you to to be proficient in. These cost time and money that no one wants to spend without a guarantee of getting something back. I have never failed to learn anything required of me with the proper training and supervision. Those required skills are never listed, but probably because it is impossible to prove before you are hired.
No one ever said it was easy to get into the field. Just keep trying. You must keep in mind that they do not really know you just by looking at a resume, but it does list your education and experience. Education is key here. Without that there is no experience.
Comment by Les Newport — August 20, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
ok, i agree and disagree with tv, I’ve being doing support for 15 years and was lucky, i got in without education, although I have not ever come across a company that did not hire me because I did not have a agree, I do agree that grads are less then desirable at least in my field, you cannot teach experience, and real world problems, yes I think there are things that a grad would probably surpass me in, but not in my field. I am one of the lucky ones, I have expanded from desktop support to a Senior BA which will only open up new doors for me. It has taken me alot of work through the years to stay on top of things, but doesn’t it always, grad or not, you always need to learn, I’m not cocky like him, but I do know that my business skills with my IT skills are very desirable, at least at the moment, I keep reading about a down swing in IT, and it may happen, all I can say is diversify, grow your knowledge and be open to new things.
Comment by imtechnical — August 21, 2007 @ 8:32 am
Does a birth year of 1962 qualify me as a boomer? I’m un-educated.
High School diploma, some military electronics training (mostly forgotten), one two-week copier repair school and I’ve been in IT in one fashion or another since 1991.
I’m pretty much a bottom feeder, PC hardware, “my Windows won’t print” kinds of things. But I have always enjoyed troubleshooting and hands-on type work. So maybe that disqualifies me, also.
The closest thing to IT-realted-Education I have is a recent certificate for ITIL Foundations.
It appears to me that most employers wish to see a nice resume full of degrees/certs in their preliminary searches, which, by process of elimination, genrally excludes me from interviews.
For me, experience has been the educator.
Also, the fact that I have no college/technical degree doesn’t mean I have no commitment. I was with my previous employer for seven years, and have been where I am for nine.
Perhaps, though, the lack of “education” has kept me where I am for much longer than necessary? What would be wrong, for instance, with staying where you are because you enjoy the environment/geology of the workplace, and being fairly compensated?
But I am confident (attitude?) enough to believe that when I am no longer here, there will be a void.
Soap box now available…thanks for the experience!
Comment by Ron — August 21, 2007 @ 11:51 am
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