Stephen Sweet, associate professor of sociology at Ithaca College, recently published “The Pressures of Talent Management.” He co-authored the study with Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Boston College. The report said more baby boomers are forced to continue working as they hit retirement age. It also found that in the next three years, this will have a negative impact on the business world. Sweet studies the intersections between work, family and community. His most recent book, “Changing Contours of Work: Jobs and Opportunities in the New Economy,” examines how economic transformations are reshaping work opportunities in the United States.

Staff Writer Gillian Smith spoke to Sweet about the findings in his report and the future of the work force.

Gillian Smith: Why did you decide to do this study?

Stephen Sweet: In the latter part of the 20th century, one of the big questions was woman’s integration into the labor force. My colleagues and I think that the issue of the aging of the work force — particularly how the changing of ways in which people have children and also the transition of the baby boomer generation into retirement — is going to be one of the big stories of the 21st century, and the challenge that poses to employers and the ways employers adjust to the new imperatives.

GS: What is your research “The Pressures of Talent Management” about?

SS: We surveyed nearly 700 companies representing the 10 leading sectors of the economy, and we asked for the extent to which they understand the pressures that an aging population might pose for their enterprises, the ways in which they are implementing practices that might help them maintain a multigenerational work force and also their level of understanding of composition of their own work forces. The overarching goal was to get a sense of the extent to which employers recognize that age and aging concerns are on the horizon and the way in which they are working to address those concerns.

GS: What is the most significant finding of your study?

SS: Sizable proportions of the employers really don’t know the composition of their labor force. Many employers don’t know the proportions of their workers that are older workers. This lack of knowledge is going to affect their ability to develop and implement strategies to attract and retain workers in later life.  

GS: Because of the decreased work force, what kind of work opportunities will be lost?

SS: A labor shortage can benefit workers. From an employer’s perspective, an inability to find the talent and to be able to keep the talent that one needs presents itself as a big problem. If there [are] plentiful jobs, then that is good for the people in the labor market. If there is a lack of talent, then that is a real challenge for employers.  

GS: Do you see the work force improving anytime soon?

SS: Right now we are in a challenging position because we have a lot of people that are out of work. We’ve got a lot of people that are working longer than they would have liked. One of the big challenges that we have to address is the way in which we redistribute work to individuals throughout the life course. A way of reworking how people commit to work is one of the key ways in which we can solve this problem.