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Baby Boomer Exodus Threatens to Change Face of Public Service

The Record, 11/19/07

Abstract:

As herds of baby boomers leave the work force for more relaxing pastures, city governments will not only be forced to compete with the private sector more heavily for in-demand replacements but may even undergo a shift in civic policy, experts say.

Nearly 80 million baby boomers will reach retirement age in the next two years, will million more to come later.

Their departure from the work force will remove many of the people attracted to public service through the hallmark social-service movements of the 1960s and '70s, such as the Peace Corps and Great Society, which emphasized the concept of people coming together to create change.

Coupled with the increasingly powerful draw of the corporate world on management students, and the lean toward personal accomplishments that come with it, the exodus of the boomers raises questions about the class of administrators that will replace them, experts say.

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