Boomer Brain Drain

In the March 21 issue of Fortune magazine, How to Approach the Coming Brain Drain covers some ground we’ve worked in these pages (namely Megan Santosus’s knowledge management coverage, such as Don’t Leave Your Company in a Purple Haze), but from the CEO’s perspective. According to Fortune, “tens of millions of baby-boomers turn 60 this year, and the decade ahead will see vast numbers of people retiring, or at least leaving their current full-time careers.”

Since Megan’s column got more than 30 comments from CIO.com readers (scroll to the bottom of that article to read them or post your own), this must be an issue for a lot of you. Further, CIO’s most recent Staffing Update reports that many CIOs are concerned that their own organization will experience an IT management shortage in the next five to ten years.

The Fortune story describes some creative ways companies—such as Dow Chemical, Northrop Grumman, Draper Labs and others—are handling the challenge, and suggests they may be blueprints for others. For example, the story quotes Dave Keppler, the CIO of Dow Chemical on mentor programs, and Scott Schaffar, Northrop Grumman’s director of knowledge management, on “communities of practice.” If you face this, this article may help start a discussion on strategy.