The data that shows Boomers are to blame for the labor shortage

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by DangerStranger138
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One of the more insidious myths making the rounds this year was that young people didn't want to work because they were getting by just fine on government aid. People had too much money, went the narrative from a handful of politicians and pundits.

Here's the thing: Early retirement — whether forced by the pandemic or made possible otherwise — is having a huge impact on the labor market. And data show that retiring boomers, far more than "lazy" millennials, are the biggest force behind the labor shortage.

People have left the workforce for myriad reasons in the past two years. But among those who have left and are least likely to return, the vast majority are older Americans who accelerated their retirement.

kkngs on December 19th, 2021 at 01:14 UTC »

Honestly, if you are laid off at 55 it can be damn hard to get a job at a different company, at least in more technical industries.

neverjumpthegate on December 18th, 2021 at 23:23 UTC »

Are people really shocked that Covid sped up our age demographics problems.

WhoBurped on December 18th, 2021 at 22:28 UTC »

it's all about the early retirement (much of which is COVID related):

"Last month, there were 3.6 million more Americans who had left the labor force and said they didn't want a job compared with November 2019. A whopping 90% of them were over 55."