In this space from time to time I have featured articles on demographics (what Peter Drucker called,  “the future that has already happened.”) In the past, many demographers and policy makers have focused on how senior populations will put a strain on the younger cohorts who task with funding their elders’ Social Security and Medicare benefits.

A recent article casts yet another demographic pall on society; specifically, it’s impact on the war for talent.

If, as many believe, a recession or at least a slowing economy is likely, then “By any objective measure, the balance of power in the job market should be tipping back to employers. Strangely, though, it isn’t. The shift boils down to demographics…The labor shortage we’re dealing with today is likely to remain this way — and perhaps get even worse,”

In short, employers may be facing a decades long seller’s market for talent that is immune to the business cycle…“and a massive shift that’s underway in the labor market could keep it that way forever.”

This article from Business Insider provides an executive summary of the “The Forever Labor Shortage.”and a few suggestions as to how business can respond to it.

Note: The article’s author was also interviewed in this five-minute video: