Employing the Region’s Assets: Baby Boomers Meeting New England’s Skilled Workforce Needs
The New
England Public Policy Center's 4th Annual Conference
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Morris Auditorium
Federal Reserve Bank
of Boston
Current demographic trends in New England point to a potential shortage of skilled labor as the Baby Boomers begin to retire over the next few years and the region's working age population begins to shrink. With current benefits and workplace policies that nudge older workers in the direction of retirement, older workers are one of the largest untapped human capital resources in the region.
The New England Public Policy Center’s 4th annual conference explored the role that older professionals can play in meeting the region’s labor force needs over the next 20 to 30 years. The conference featured presentations that investigated the changing demographic and labor force trends in New England and the US and examined what employers, employees, and the public sector could do to lengthen the labor force participation of the population age 55 and older.
Presentations from the conference are now available; please click on the presentation title in the agenda below to access individual presentations.
Attendee Survey Results 
A summary of survey responses from 82 conference attendees.
We are pleased to release the conference report that summarizes the proceedings of the event:
NEPPC CR No. 08-1 (May 2009)
Employing the Region's Assets: Baby Boomers Meeting New England's Skilled Workforce Needs
by Heather Brome, senior policy analyst and Sandra Hackman, editor
- Agenda and Presentations
- Resources on Aging Workers
- Speaker Biographies
Overview: Is there a potential labor shortage on the horizon?
| 8:30 am – 8:45 am | Welcome and opening remarks |
| 8:45 am – 9:15 am | Overview of changing trends in skilled labor force and work behavior of older workers Eugene Steuerle, Peterson Foundation Copy of Dr. Steuerle's remarks |
| 9:15 am – 9:30 am | Commentary with a focus on New England Andrew Sum, Northeastern University |
| 9:30 am – 9:50 am | Facilitated Q & A |
| 9:50 am – 10:15 am | Break for networking; coffee in New England Economic Adventure |
What are the potential challenges to lengthening the labor supply of older workers?
| 10:15 am – 10:45 am | Challenges individuals face to working longer |
| 10:45 am – 11:15 am | Challenges employers face in hiring and retaining older workers Steven Sass, Boston College |
| 11:15 am – 11:45 am | Facilitated questions for both presenters |
Practitioner panel discussion and open questions
| 11:45 am – 12:30 pm | Practitioner panel discussion |
| 12:30 pm – 12:50 pm | Facilitated questions for panelists and presenters |
| 12:50 pm – 1:00 pm | Closing remarks by panel moderator |
| 1:00 pm | Boxed lunch in New England Economic Adventure |
- Federal
benefits - Incentives
to work
Skills- Government
policies - Economic
impact - Resources
for employers
Discrimination
Academic research Expand || Collapse
Federal Legislation: Expand || Collapse
General audience research Expand || Collapse
Academic research Expand || Collapse
Federal Legislation: Expand || Collapse
Barbara Bovbjerg
Director for Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues, Government
Accountability Office
In her role as Director for Education, Workforce, and Income Security at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Barbara oversees evaluative studies on aging and retirement income policy issues, including Social Security and public and private pension programs. Previously, she was Assistant Director for Budget Issues at GAO.
Barbara holds an MPP from Cornell University and a BA from Oberlin College.
Lynn Browne
Executive Vice President and Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Lynn is responsible for the Bank’s regional and community outreach, as well as public information and employee communications. As an economist, she was the Bank’s Director of Research from 1993 to 2001 and oversaw the Bank’s scholarly research and monetary policy analysis. Her personal research interests include a strong focus on economic growth and development in New England.
She holds a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BA from the University of Western Ontario.
Jeff Davis
Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Massachusetts General Hospital
Jeff has been the Senior Vice President for Human Resources at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) since June 1994. MGH is an academic medical center located in Boston, Massachusetts which includes a 900 bed acute care hospital, the largest hospital based research facility in the nation, a degree granting institute, and a physician organization. MGH employs over 21,000 individuals. MGH has been recognized by AARP as one of the nation’s “Best Employers for Workers Over 50” for the past three years.
Jeff has held senior administrative responsibility for the general support departments, the clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology, and the quality improvement program during his 29 years at MGH.
Jeff received an MBA from Suffolk University and a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American Management Association Human Resource Council.
James McCaffrey
Worldwide Partner, Mercer
Jim serves as both Market Leader for Mercer’s New England offices and as Leader for the firm’s Northeast Operating Zone. He has previously served as Practice Leader for the Retirement and Client Management practices in the Northeast and in these roles he served on the National leadership teams for each of these practices. Over the past 30 years, Jim has consulted with a broad range of clients on benefits and compensation issues. His clients have included organizations such as State Street, Textron, Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA, Caritas Christi Health System, Raytheon, John Hancock and The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
He currently serves as a Board member of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the New England Council and the Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. He is also Town Moderator of the Town of Millis, Massachusetts, where he previously served two terms as a member of the Board of Selectmen.
Jim has a JD from Boston University and a BA from Georgetown University. He is a member of the bar of the State of New York, the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the American Bar Association. Prior to joining Mercer he served as assistant corporation counsel for the City of New York.
John Richardson
Commissioner, the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development
John is Commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). As Commissioner, he is responsible for coordinating and directing the state’s economic development offices, which include the Office of Business Development, the Office of Small Business, the Office of Community Development, the Office of Innovation, and the Maine Office of Tourism.
John served four consecutive terms in the Maine House from 1998-2006 as the State Representative from District 63, representing part of Brunswick. During that time he rose in the ranks to House Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Business and Economic Development in the 120th Legislature; to House Majority Leader in the 121st Legislature; and to Speaker of the House in the 122nd Legislature.
John holds a JD from Creighton University and a BA from the University of Maryland.
Deborah Russell
Director of Workforce Issues, AARP
Deborah is the Director of Workforce Issues at AARP, the primary national resource on issues addressing the economic and retirement security of individuals 50+. This includes working with the business community to create employment opportunities that are fair, flexible, and that capitalize on the wealth of knowledge and expertise mature workers bring to today’s workplace.
As Director, she leads a team that focuses on issues effecting individuals 50+ by developing information, programs, technical assistance, and practical research. In addition, she established the “Best Employers for Workers Over 50” an annual recognition program that awards companies and organizations with best practices and policies for addressing the issues affecting our aging labor force. Best Employers awardees receive national media attention.
Deborah has issue expertise in aging workforce and employment issues and has appeared on national television programs such as CNN, CNBC, Good Morning America CBS Morning Show and CBS Evening News and is frequently quoted in national and local newspapers. In addition, Deborah sits on the Board of Directors for the American Society on Aging.
Deborah has a BA from the University of Maryland.
Steven Sass
Associate Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
Steven is currently the associate director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. He was previously an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston where he was also the editor of The Regional Review.
He has written a history of the U.S. private pension institution, The Promise of Private Pensions and is coauthor, with Alicia Munnell, of Reforming the National Retirement Income System, and Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge.
Steven holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University and a BA from the University of Delaware.
C. Eugene Steuerle
Vice-President of Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Gene is a nationally renowned expert on retirement issues. He has worked with Income and Benefits Policy Center staff on projects involving long-term projections of current and alternative retirement income policies. Gene co-edited Social Security and the Family. Gene is also an authority on the development and use of different types of policy models. He created an actuarial model that formed the basis of “Retooling Social Security for the Twenty-First Century.”
Among his previous positions, Gene has served as Senior Fellow of the Urban Institute, co-director of its Tax Policy Center, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Analysis President of the National Tax Association, and chair of the 1999 Technical Panel advising Social Security on its methods and assumptions. From 1984 to 1986, he worked as the organizer and economic coordinator of the Treasury Department's tax reform effort.
Gene is also the author, co-editor, or editor of 15 books and hundreds of articles and Congressional testimonies, as well as a prolific columnist who has written for Tax Notes and the Financial Times. Among other honors, he received the first Bruce Davie-Albert Davis Public Service Award from the National Tax Association in 2005. Gene has a PhD in economics with a distinction in public finance from the University Wisconsin at Madison.
Andrew Sum
Director, Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University
Andrew is a professor of economics and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.
The Center's activities include conducting research on labor market developments, trends, and problems, as well as evaluations of employment and training policies and programs for youth, economically disadvantaged adults, and older workers. The Center produces a variety of publications on these topics and provides technical assistance and training activities to national, regional, state, and local employment and training organizations and professional research associations.
Andrew's publications on the topic of older workers include: “The Projected Population and Labor Force Outlook for the 55 and Older Population in Connecticut, 2005-2015: The Accelerated Graying of Connecticut’s Population and Labor Force,” “Identifying the National Pool of Older Workers Eligible for Senior Community Service Employment Programs and Their Current and Projected Unmet Service Needs,” “Devolution of Employment and Training Policy: The Case for Older Workers,” “Labor Market Policies for Older Workers in the U.S.,” and “Older Workers: An Essential Resource for Massachusetts.” He also edited chapters 3 and 4 of Bridges to Retirement: Older Workers in a Changing Labor Market.
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