Shifting
demographics

Leveraging untapped talent pools

Shifting demographics

Despite influxes of Gen Z workers, workforces globally continue to age. Developed nations face widening talent shortages as more experienced employees retire.

To fill gaps, organisations must leverage untapped talent pools, including:

Seasoned employees: Offer reskilling and flexible schedules to retain and re-engage mature workers
Returners/career changers: Enable transition reskilling through rapid upskilling programmes
Employees with less traditional experience: Consider candidates with high potential and transferrable soft skills.

Reskilling existing and new employees from diverse backgrounds fosters workforce continuity. Retaining institutional knowledge also aids with ongoing multi-generational management.

| Trend 1 |

Bridging the generation divide through strategic reskilling and upskilling

Globally, organisations face a growing imbalance between rapidly rising Gen Z workers entering the workforce and more experienced employees leaving. By 2030, Gen Z will compose 58% of the labour pool; at the same time, broader demographic trends reveal rapidly aging workforces in developed markets.

This widening demographic gap produces multifaceted talent challenges: generational knowledge loss from retiring Baby Boomers, Gen Z seeking updated skills blending technical and interpersonal, and mid-career workers needing to reskill for new roles.

Targeted reskilling and mentorship help bridge talent gaps across generations. Cross-training programmes can enable Gen Z and seasoned employees to transfer institutional knowledge. Offering mentorships, stretch assignments and new learning opportunities help retain mature workers. Enabling mid-career talent to reskill for adjacent roles sustains organisational productivity.

In Europe, the share of the population ages 65 and up is increasing in every European Union (EU) member state.
Roughly one in five Americans ages 65 and older (19%) were employed in 2023 – nearly double the share of those who were working 35 years ago.

_^Source:_{^{UNFPA Asia and the Pacific}}

| Trend 2 |

Why the present — and future — workforce will be female-fuelled

When the pandemic hit, millions of women left the workforce, which many feared would take decades to recover from. However, in just three years, employment levels for women are back to where they were pre-pandemic. Women are leading the post-pandemic recovery. Globally, the workforce participation rate for women is just over 50%.

Specifically, among 25-54-year-old women, the labour force participation rate has hit record highs. This age bracket has jumpstarted brand new careers, advocated for better pay and benefits, and taken advantage of remote opportunities. Despite these gains, there is an urgency to ensure women are thoroughly represented in candidate pools for growth jobs.

_^Source:_{^{What Women Want (At Work)}}_{^{- ManpowerGroup}}

Women are half of the world’s total working population, yet hold less than one third of managerial and leadership positions.
Despite a tech talent shortage, women make up less than a third of the world’s workforce in technology-related fields.

| Trend 3 |

DEIB: Catalyst for innovation and creativity

Fostering diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) has developed from a moral imperative into a core business strategy. Companies embracing DEIB are realising two key advantages:

Innovation upswing: Diverse teams bring broader perspectives, unlocking creativity. Organisations that champion inclusion better reflect customer diversity, increasing market relevance.
Talent magnetism: Today's top talent increasingly prioritises workplace inclusion when choosing roles. Companies perceived as having diverse and equitable work cultures have a competitive edge in attracting skilled employees. Equity and belonging boost retention, saving turnover costs.

The data shows work cultures that maintain diversity, ensure equity, promote inclusion and cultivate belonging are better positioned to tackle new challenges in the modern era.

_^Source:_{^{Diversity Matters Even More}}_{^{- McKinsey}}

There is a perception gap. While 68% of leaders say their business provides an inclusive environment, only 36% of their employees agree.

| Trend 4 |

Untapped and underestimated:
Immigrant talent as a critical pipeline

Employers today face high labour demand with insufficient domestic talent supply. This accelerating skills gap compels innovative recruiting approaches and wider talent pipelines. Many now recognise the promise within global migrant and immigrant talent pools.

Forward-looking multinationals lead in sourcing skills globally, implementing best practices for inclusion that welcome international applicants. Their integrated workforces better represent diverse customer values and outlooks, driving superior innovation.

While global hiring alone cannot fully address immediate talent deficits, it allows employers to access skills where demographics and job preferences align. Successful integration of these multicultural teams creates sustainable advantages, delivering talent shortage relief now while reaping additional longer-term benefits.

The top five markets for finding skilled talent are the United States, Australia, Israel, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
51% of European consumers say they are more likely to buy from a company that is actively hiring refugees.