Catherwood LibraryILR School

David W. De Long

The person calling it quits may be an expert NASA scientist, a veteran DuPont salesperson, or a senior executive who has helped build a multibillion-dollar company or government agency. Whatever the scenario, an unprecedented number of highly skilled professionals and managers will be leaving their jobs in the next few years as aging baby boomers begin retiring from the workforce in droves. The disappearance of this intellectual capital will make it very difficult for many outfits to sustain past performance levels.This book shows how losing human knowledge in a technology-intensive era can seriously affect organizational performance. It also explains what executives can do to retain critical know-how as veteran workers leave. Loaded with anecdotes and case examples, Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce provides a comprehensive framework to help managers improve the retention of vital knowledge both from older workers who retire and mid-career employees who leave unexpectedly. [from dust jacket]