“A lot of it is loyalty,” Jessica Hanna, the group’ senior vice president of Public affairs, says of the older employee base. “It’s a very stable industry.”
Insurance carriers are trying to appeal to Gen Z by emphasizing the growing use of data science to make risk assessments and market to customers, she says. The industry is also making pitches to young people on social media and launching apprenticeships.
Public administration
Share of workers 55 and older: 25.4%
Workers in these government jobs also tend to stay in their positions for many years, in part to qualify for pensions and other benefits, Reid says.
Manufacturing
Share of workers 55 and older: 25.3%
Following the heavy job losses inflicted by the offshoring of manufacturing to Asia and the Great Recession of 2007-09, U.S. factories have made a comeback in recent years as some production has returned to the U.S.
But many young people mistakenly perceive factory jobs as physically taxing and the industry as “dirty, dark and dangerous,” says Carolyn Lee, executive director of the Manufacturing Institute, which trains workers.
“They’re high-paying durable jobs” and most involve using digital skills to run computerized machines.
As baby boomers retire and manufacturers expand capacity, the industry estimates it could need to find 3.8 million new employees by 2033. Yet about half those positions could go unfilled, the Manufacturing Institute estimates.
Forty percent of the workforce at metalworking machinery plants and 50% at textile, fabric finishing and coating mills is 55 and older. The latter share is highest among all sectors.
Manufacturers are partnering with high schools and colleges to train young Americans. To appeal to Gen Z and Millennials, the industry is allowing flexible shifts and shift-swapping, Lee says, a departure from the decadeslong orthodoxy of eight-hour shifts.
Transportation and warehousing
Share of workers 55 and older: 24.3%
Trucking skews older in part because regulations bar license holders under 21 from moving interstate freight, says Sean McNally, a spokesman for the American Trucking Association.“The average age of a new driver being trained today is 35, meaning we are individuals’ second or third career,” McNally says.
Industry officials are lobbying Congress to change the rule and have launched image advertising campaigns to attract younger workers, he says.
Educational services
Share of workers 55 and older: 23.9%
Teaching has many unionized jobs that reward seniority and offer pensions, Pollak and Reid say, encouraging an older workforce.
Health care and social assistance
Share of workers 55 and older: 23.6%
A 2021 report by the American Journal of Nursing found 4 million nurses are expected to retire by 2030.
“The pandemic caused significant strain on the health care system, prompting increased burnout and early retirement among nurses,” says Claire Sabin, public affairs specialist for the American Nurses Association. “Younger nurses, facing limited professional development opportunities and difficult work environments, have been less likely to enter or stay in the profession during the pandemic.”
Here are the three industries with the fewest older workers:
Leisure and hospitality
Share of workers 55 and older: 15%
The industry – which includes restaurants, bars and hotels – requires physically taxing work and has high turnover. More than half of all workers are 35 or younger.
Information
Share of workers 55 and older: 20.5%
The sector, which includes technology jobs, attracts mostly younger workers.
Construction
Share of workers 55 and older: 21.2%
The field is physically demanding and workers retire at relatively young ages, leaving a smaller share of older employees, Reid says.
At the same time, construction has a disproportionate share of older employees in skilled jobs, such as carpenters and electricians, says Anirban Basu, chief economist of Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group. It’s struggling to attract young people to those positions, which typically require training or apprenticeships.
“They can make money driving for Uber and Lyft” and they have “more flexibility and control over how they spend their time,” Basu says.
His group estimates the industry will need an additional 500,000 workers this year beyond normal turnover to offset retirements, additional construction spending and other factors.
