By 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor expects that U.S. companies will face a shortage of slightly more than 10 million workers. (That's partly because, while about 70 million baby boomers will retire – or at least reach retirement age – over the next 15 years, only 40 million new workers are expected to enter the workforce during the same period.)
"This has happened before," says Neil Lebovits, president and COO of a specialty-staffing firm called Ajilon. "But when the 2010 labor shortage hits, it will supercede the one we faced in the late '90s, when companies bowed to their employees' every need and desire to keep them from leaving."
Service industries that require knowledge workers with specialized skills will be hit the hardest, he adds. "There are more than 90 million Americans whose literacy and numeric skills are at the 10th-grade level or below," Lebovits says. "If you consider education and training, the coming talent shortage and 'talent wars' will be even more serious."
Source: Fortune.com