South Dakota public sector employers face hiring crunch as record numbers retire

[TexasTowelie]

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota's state employees will retire at record levels over the next half-a-decade, making it "tougher and tougher" to rehire the needed teachers, public safety, and county employees, according to a senior actuary.

A joint meeting of the South Dakota Retirement System Board of Trustees and the Legislature's Retirement Laws committee heard the annual state workforce demographics report on Thursday, Dec. 2, with officials confirming that more public employees hung up their hats in South Dakota in 2021 than ever before.

Officials add the departures will only increase as baby boomers exit the labor force.

"The next five years we're going to have five years of record number retirements," said Doug Fiddler, the board's senior actuary.

The pandemic has affected, albeit not caused, the underlying labor force departures, Fiddler said. Baby boomers -- those born between 1946 and 1964 -- have long constituted the largest share of the state's public sector workforce and are increasingly hitting retirement age.

Read more: https://www.inforum.com/news/government-and-politics/7307848-South-Dakota-public-sector-employers-face-hiring-crunch-as-record-numbers-retire

[hatrack]

1. Well, since the state is run by people who believe government is evil . . . .

Good luck filling those positions!

[Backseat Driver]

2. As for their "we can't find candidates"...

All over the country, employers have fallen for stereotypical notions about older workers. Q: When exactly does "older" begin? In some cases, much earlier than 55 years of age. It begins the moment that "nothing personal, just business" leaks into the conversations in Board rooms and in their Govenor's and elected officials' offices. Welcome aboard should never mean, "we are delighted to be able to disrespect your efforts in favor of ours." Of course, we live in the time of hypocrites that rarely practice what they preach, so consider the following statistics and what really is occurring in the world of the "personal" workforce. We certainly know who ROL favors: the young adult, educated, rich (often unearned), white, extroverted, beautiful, heros, celebrities, and gawdly...and we like the fiction of a "good ending" to almost every story.

https://resumelab.com/career-advice/older-worker-stereotypes

(snip) According to the research papers we examined, the popular stereotype is that workers over the age of 55:

Aren’t motivated
Don’t participate in extra training or career development programs
Are resistant to change
Aren’t as productive as younger workers
Don’t identify themselves with companies they work for
Are distrustful of other people
Have poor health
Will let their family lives get in the way of work
Won’t share their knowledge
Are more expensive to hire than younger candidates
Will leave the job sooner than their younger colleagues.

But we thought…

Come on, it can’t be the case in 2020! No way people still pigeonhole older employees like that.(snip)