SHIFT - February 2023

Our February issue of SHIFT looks at what’s trending in several segments of the workplace: the aging workforce; women leaders; and Generation Z. Turning to more global concerns, scientists consider the role of rare earth metals in fueling the green energy shift.

Is there value to companies if they engage an aging workforce?

The Harvard Business Review recently addressed this question with unique data covering workforce characteristics, management practices and business performance. Their findings were clear: Employee age had no impact on business performance, whether performance is measured by financial, operational, or customer outcomes. Tenure, however, had a significant positive and sometimes very sizeable impact on financial performance and operational excellence.

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Women leaders are switching jobs in unprecedented numbers

According to the latest Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey, in partnership with LeanIn.Org, women leaders are switching jobs at the highest rates seen in the eight years they’ve been issuing the report. The research revealed that we’re in the midst of a “Great Breakup.” Women are demanding more from work, and they’re leaving their companies in unprecedented numbers to get it — and at higher rates than men in leadership. That could have serious implications for companies. Women are already significantly underrepresented in leadership. For years, fewer women have risen through the ranks because of the “broken rung” at the first step up to management. Now, companies are struggling to hold onto the relatively few women leaders they have.

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Gen Z job hunters more worried about a company’s reputation than layoffs

Generation Z, which represents the majority of undergraduates today and is expected to account for 30 percent of the U.S. workforce by 2030, is entering a job market that is vastly different from those experienced by prior generations. Findings from Adobe’s Future Workforce Study reveal how the newest employee cohort is feeling about the economy, current labor market, and job search and application process.

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Study: Enough rare earth minerals to fuel green energy shift

The world has enough rare earth minerals and other critical raw materials to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy to produce electricity and limit global warming, according to a new study that counters concerns about the supply of such minerals. With a push to get more electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, hydroelectric and nuclear power plants, some people have worried that there won’t be enough key minerals to make the decarbonization switch.

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