2252 Westwinde St.

NW
49534 Grand Rapids, MI
November 18, 2014
Dave and Todd Sturrus
2500 3 Mile Road
49504 Grand Rapids, MI
Dear Mr. Dave and Todd Sturrus:
The attached report analyzes the aging work force of your company, Grand Valley Concrete Products.
Through much research and observation, I have noticed that Grand Valley Concrete Products has an
aging work force. An aging workforce can mean many different things for a company. In the report, I
included what I believe an aging workforce means for your company and the steps that I suggest you
should take to address the situation.
In my research and observation of your company, I found three issues that are directly linked to your
aging labor force. The three issues that I discovered were that there is a large difference in the age of
your employees. You have a lot of older workers, but only a few younger ones. This could cause issues
for you down the road. Another issue that I noticed was that your employees seem to be particularly
unhealthy. Many of your employees are suffering from chronic pain as well as sustaining injuries. This is
costing your company money by having to pay for health care and you are losing productivity because
your employees are working much slower. Finally, I noticed that you have a lack of young employees.
When your older employees begin to retire, this will create a void leaving you with a lack of qualified
employees.
After uncovering the issues dealing with your aging work force, I recommend you install a mentor
program to educate your younger employees, you would hold more frequent, more detailed safety
meetings, and finally you would reward younger workers for returning back for another summer of
work.
I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedules to review the report, and my suggestions to help
improve Grand Valley Concrete Products as a whole. I look forward to hearing back from you soon, and
would be more than happy to discuss the contents of the report.
Sincerely,

Bradley Sturrus
Attatchment

The Aging Labor Force of

Grand Valley Concrete Products

Prepared for:
Dave Sturrus and Todd Sturrus,
Owners of Grand Valley Concrete Products

Prepared by:
Bradley Sturrus

November 18, 2014

Table of Contents

Executive Summary ..............................................................................................................Pg. 1

Introduction ............................................................................................................................Pg. 2
Background .............................................................................................................................Pg. 2
Problems..................................................................................................................................Pg. 2
Employee Age ................................................................................................................Pg. 2
Employee Body Wear and Retirement Age ...................................................................Pg. 3
A Lack of Young Workers ............................................................................................... Pg. 4

Positives and Negatives of Having an Aging Labor Force ...........................................Pg. 4

Positives of an Aging Labor Force ..................................................................................Pg. 5
Negatives of an Aging Labor Force ................................................................................Pg. 5

Suggested Course of Action................................................................................................Pg. 5

Install a Mentoring Program .......................................................................................... Pg. 6
Hold More Frequent Health and Safety Meetings ........................................................ Pg. 6
Reward Young Employees for Returning .......................................................................Pg. 6

Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................Pg. 7
Fact Sheet ................................................................................................................................Pg. 8
Works Cited ..........................................................................................................................Pg. 10

Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to note the possibility of issues that could occur in the future at
Grand Valley Concrete Products because of the companys aging labor force. Through my research and
observations of the company, I came up with three problems that are arising because of the companys
aging labor force, positives and negatives of having an aging labor force, and a suggested course of
action to address the issue.
There were three issues I noticed with Grand Valley Concrete Products aging workforce. First,
there is a major gap forming in the ages of the companys employees. The average employee age at
Grand Valley is 45 years old. However, out of the 28 total employees, there are only six individuals under
the age of thirty five, but there are 15 employees over the age of 45. Considering the average retirement
age at Grand Valley is approximately 57, this creates a huge age gap issue. When the older employees
begin to retire, it is possible it leaves the company shorthanded and unable to effectively fill the gaps
that are opening. Second, the employees at Grand Valley Concrete are experiencing health issues at an
alarming rate. This causes three things: early retirement age, lessened production from each employee,
and extra health care costs for the company. The final issue I noticed was a lack of young workers in the
labor force.
There are both positives and negatives in having an aging labor force. One of the positives are
that in an aging work force, your employees are typically experienced, and possess many skills that have
been acquired over the years. Another positive of having an aging work force is that employees tend to
be loyal to the company and committed to the job. They typically are dependable, and you can count on
them being to work on time, every day. Some of the drawbacks to having an aging labor force however
is that their productivity will not be as high as a younger workers might be, and there may be more
costs involved in employing an older worker.
Finally, I will give my suggested course of action to address this potential issue. To begin this
course of action, I suggest that Grand Valley Concrete installs a mentor program. This way, the younger
employees will have a chance to learn from the seasoned veterans. If the younger workers can learn
from the people who have been around for a while, it will help bridge the age gap. This way, when
employees begin to retire, it shouldnt be a detriment to your company. Next, I would begin to hold
more frequent, more in depth, safety meetings. If employees can learn simple things like proper lifting
technique, and proper posture, you can potentially lower the injury rate at Grand Valley Concrete
Products. If the injury rate is reduced it will mean less health care costs for the company and longer
tenures for employees. The final step I would recommend you to take in order to minimize the potential
issue would be to reward young employees for coming back for a second or third summer. If you begin
to do this, I believe your turn over rate for summer employees will be much lower. If you can interest
young workers in your company by bringing them back for multiple summers, I believe that you will find
a greater number of these young workers may seek full time employment from you after they graduate
from high school, rather than pursuing other options.
In completion of my research and observation, I truly believe that the implementation of my
suggested course of action will help eliminate any potential issue that could form from an aging work
force.

Introduction
This report highlights the importance of a strong, healthy labor force at Grand Valley Concrete
Products and documents the issue of its aging labor force and the many effects it could have on the
company. The purpose of this report is to provide the owners of Grand Valley Concrete Products with
the facts and information concerning its aging labor force. Along with these facts, a suggested course of
action will be given for your consideration.

Background
As you know, Grand Valley Concrete Products has been a family-owned and operated company
since 1936. Since then, you have established yourselves as a leader in the precast concrete industry
through a continued focus on quality, service, and customer-centered values. To be able to accomplish
these things throughout the years, Grand Valley Concrete Products has depended on, and been blessed
with, a loyal, dependable labor force. For many years, the same loyal employees have been willing to
work hard day in and day out. This labor force is very talented and has the ability to create top-quality
products in a minimal amount of time.
However, Grand Valley Concrete is facing an issue. The work force as a whole at Grand Valley is
getting older at an alarming rate. As current employees are getting older, very few people have joined
on at Grand Valley. What this means for you as a company is that you have an age gap forming in your
labor force. Once your older group of employees reaches the age where they need to retire, you will be
left with a small group of employees, who have a dearth of knowledge and training.
This problem is not limited to Grand Valley Concrete though. The construction industry as a
whole is being affected by it. The reason for the lack of young workers in the construction industry is the
push from high schools to attend college. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 66% of high
school seniors in 2013 went on to attend college. As colleges tend to push students away from manual
labor such as the construction industry, it effectively narrows down the eligible workforce to one-third
of high school graduates. This age gap that is forming in the construction industry is what I hope to
address in this report, and hopefully give some viable options to help combat the growing issue as a
company.

Problems
Employee Age
At Grand Valley Concrete Products, the average employee age is increasing. Currently, according
to your employee records, the average employee is 45 years old. This average age of employees does
not paint an accurate picture of the current situation at Grand Valley though.
If you reference the chart shown, you will notice that there is a noticeable lack of younger
employees. With only 6 employees age 34 and under, 10 years from now you are facing a major
dilemma as the older workers retire, leaving their skills and knowledge with only a few qualified
individuals.

Employee Age Grouping Statistics

Range of Age

Number of Employees

55+

54-45

11

44-35

34-25

24-18

Average Employee Age: 45 Years old

Total Number of Employees: 28

Employee Body Wear and Retirement Age

The average age for someone to retire in the United States is 62 years old. However, that
number is much lower at Grand Valley Concrete Products. Considering the last six employees to retire,
the average age for someone to retire from Grand Valley is more like 57 years old.
The difference between the national average and the average of a Grand Valley Concrete
employees retirement age is five years. While this may not seem like a huge difference, that five year
difference is a big deal as you are losing out on 5 years that could be used to share knowledge and skills
with young employees or employees in training.
The overwhelming reason for the earlier average retirement age at Grand Valley is the wear that
the job puts on the employees bodies. The construction industry is tough on a workers body. In fact,
according to the Occupational Health and Safety website, construction workers with a musculoskeletal
disorder, lung disease, or other injuries, are much more likely to retire on disability than workers that
have the same conditions working in a less physically demanding environment.
Not only does the construction industry tend to have earlier retirements because of physical
conditions, it also causes workers injuries like chronic back, neck, and shoulder pain that can have
adverse effects on them. These effects can cause them to be less productive employees in the
workforce. It can also lead to accidents which may cause more serious injuries or death, and it may
affect the individuals quality of life.
Being a part of the construction industry, Grand Valley Concretes employees are not exempt
from the issues that their peers in the construction industry face. With a combination of frequent heavy
lifting and bending, and working long hours, you could argue that Grand Valley Concrete Products
employees are at an even greater risk for the injuries and other diseases that their peers are susceptible
to.

A Lack of Young Workers

As noted in the Employee Age Grouping Statistics chart, there are only six workers that are the
age of 34 or less. This means that only about 20% of Grand Valleys work force is in prime physical
working condition. With this small number of workers in their primes, this means that the work force as
a whole will suffer production speed as the majority of the work force is older and therefore slightly less
productive.
Although slowed production speeds are a result of a lack of young workers, it is not the only fall
back to having small numbers of young employees. Another issue that is created from having a lack of
young workers is an age gap in employees. The reason this is significant, is that the majority of the
employees are older, and will need to retire soon. Older workers tend to have the most knowledge and
experience and therefore are needed to teach the younger workers everything they know. When the
older group retires, that will leave the younger group to take their place as the older, more experienced
workers. Now that the largest portion of the workforce has retired, you will need to replace them, and
the largest portion of the work force will become young inexperienced workers. This will make your
labor force much less productive as a large portion of the work force is inexperienced and will need
training to complete the tasks at hand.
This issue is not just company based, but rather is a nationwide trend as the economy is growing
again and the construction industry is beginning to expand rapidly. As stated earlier, more and more
high school graduates are pursuing college degrees. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
from the year 2000 to the year 2010, college enrollment increased a staggering 37%. From the years
2012-2023 college enrollment is expected to raise another 14%. With more students attending college
than ever, this means that the number of people that will be available to work at Grand Valley Concrete
Products will be at an all-time low.
On top of the shrinking number of high school graduates entering the workforce, there is an
increasing demand for laborers in the construction industry. Within the next 5 years, 31% of all
construction companies estimate they will have a shortage of tradesman, and laborers. 54% of
constriction companies estimate they will experience these shortages. In 15 years, the estimated
number jumps up to almost 73% of all construction companies. (Hanah) On top of these predictions,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that from the years 2012-2022, the demand for construction laborers
will increase 25%, which is much higher than the national average.
With these statistics given, you need to see that the lack of young people in the labor force will
not fix its self. The demand for this group is only growing while the supply is shrinking. This means that
you will need to take action and get out there and seek out younger worker s to supplement the labor
force at Grand Valley Concrete Products.

Positives and Negatives of Having an Aging Labor Force

Although it may seem that having an aging labor force may be only a bad thing from the
information given in the problem section of the report, this is not the case. There are many positives
along with the negatives that come with having an aging labor force. The list of problems above should
not be seen as negativity, but rather as places for improvement.

Positives of an Aging Labor Force

According to Professor Hanna, an aged workforce can be a companys greatest asset for a
couple of reasons. Older workers will almost always be the most knowledgeable and experienced.
Although an older workforce may have more direct costs, it could be argued that an older workforce is
actually cheaper than a younger workforce. With young workers, time must be spent to teach them the
correct ways to do things which will cost money. Along with the time of training, younger workers will
typically make a lot more mistakes, which costs for the time wasted doing the project wrong, and for the
materials wasted in the activity. Older workers ability to complete tasks correctly the first time is an
invaluable asset.
Another reason why older workers can be a great benefit to a company is because they are
typically the most reliable, most loyal group in the work force. Often times, these workers have been
with the company for many years. They are known to be reliable, and you can count on them being in to
work on time, every day. Older workers can also be beneficial to a company because of their ability to
teach younger workers. As stated earlier, older workers are the most knowledgeable in the workforce,
and that knowledge should be used, and passed down to the younger generation.

Negatives of an Aging Labor Force

While there are some good things about having an aging labor force, it definitely has some
obvious draw backs. Older workers do not have the physical ability that younger workers have. With this
being the case, younger workers will typically be more productive than older ones, and will be able to
get more done, more quickly. Another common issue with an older workforce is that they will typically
have more upfront costs with health care costs and workers compensation. Another drawback of having
an aging workforce is that you are creating an age gap. This will make it very difficult to replace the older
workers when then retire with good employees as they will most likely need training which cost money
and take time.

Suggested Course of Action

Before I begin this section, I feel it is necessary to remind you what this report is. This is an
outsiders take on what I think may become an issue for your company in the near future. It is backed by
research and solid facts, however, no one knows your company like you do. I am not telling you that you
are running your company incorrectly or telling you how you should run your company. I am simply
offering a suggestion to you that I believe could help your company greatly in the future.

Install a Mentoring Program

As Professor Hanna stated, Older workers can be a companys greatest asset. Companies need
to learn to put this asset to use. What Professor Hanah means by saying this is that older workers in the
labor force have a plethora of knowledge and skills that can be taught to the younger workers in the
labor force. Even more importantly than the skills and knowledge the older workers posses, they also
tend to be hard working, have loyalty to the company, and are dependable. These traits can also be
learned by the younger workers through a mentoring program which is invaluable.

I believe that the best route for Grand Valley Concrete would not be a full blown mentoring
program, but rather to assign each young worker that starts at Grand Valley to one of your betan
experienced employee, for example Gearald, Saul, Jorge, or Luke. Have these employees take the
younger workers under their wing and teach them everything they know.

Hold More Frequent Health and Safety Meetings

I know health and safety meetings are already held at Grand Valley Concrete Products; however
they are not held with any frequency, and if I am honest, the ones that are held are of little substance.
Health and Safety meetings can be a great tool to promote a healthy work place. They should be used as
more than a mandatory meeting to talk about preventing accidents. I do agree that talking about
accident prevention is of upmost importance, however, these meetings should be utilized for more. If
during these meetings you would go over things as simple as the proper way to lift heavy objects, and
proper posture, I firmly believe that your costs for worker injuries and workers compensation would go
down a noticeable amount.

Reward Young Employees for Returning

Each summer Grand Valley Concrete Products hire part time workers for the summer months
while the company is busy. These helpers are typically high school aged kids, and are there for June,
July, and August while school is out. The only problem with this process is that there is a huge turnover
rate, forcing you to search for summer help every year.
This fact isnt surprising to anyone. Working at Grand Valley Concrete is not easy work. You are
working long hours five and six days a week; not the most lucrative gig in the world for a high school kid.
You need to make it lucrative for them. Make it clear that their hard work will be noticed and rewarded.
You should make a considerable effort to thank and congratulate on their efforts, and make note that
they are really getting the hang of things. You want to make coming to work each day a pleasurable
experience for them.
Finally, as the summer concludes, bring them into the office, and talk about the possibility of
joining back up for next summer. Once again, reinforce the idea of how well they worked throughout
the summer, and that it was noticed. You should offer them a $1 per hour raise, and a $500 bonus if
they return next summer. This may sound like a lot, but I believe that it pays out, as this saves you from
having to search for another helper, and saves you from having to incur the costs of teaching them their
responsibilities. I truly believe that if you adopt this system for your summer helpers your turn over rate
will not only go down from summer to summer, but you will also gain more full time employees from
this group as they graduate from high school, rather than pursuing other opportunities.

Conclusion
Heavy research of the topic, and observation of Grand Valley Concretes labor force, has lead me
to the following conclusions. Grand Valley Concrete Products has an aging labor force, and a growing
age gap between older workers and younger workers. In the future, this issue could cause major
productivity problems for the company as older employees retire and create a void or a lack of good
employees that will be very difficult to fill.
In my observations and research, I believe I have found three steps that should be taken in order
to combat this issue. First of all, I believe that some sort of mentoring program needs to be put into
place at Grand Valley so that older employees can share their traits, skills, and knowledge with the
6

younger employees. This way, when the older employees retire, they will leave behind all the
experience and knowledge they have gained over the years. Next, I believe that more frequent, more
rigorous Health and Safety meetings should be held. With this change, I believe that Grand Valley
Concrete Products will have healthier employees, who cost the company less, and are able to work to an
older age. Finally, I believe that you as a company should reward young workers for coming back each
summer. I believe this will save the company money in the long run, and will you gain more, young, full
time employees.

Fact Sheet
Grand Valley Concrete Products Aging Work Force

Grand Valley Concrete Products (GVCP) has a work force with many members nearing the age where
they could retire.
Note: Due to the nature of the work for most at GVCP, many employees do retire before the
retirement age of 62 or 67. A more realistic age to plan for is 57 (Average age of retirement for shop
workers at GVCP)
To give reference to the aging workforce issue, here is a list of employees, and their ages who are within
10 years of possible retirement.
Gerald: 50
Saul: 45

Marcos: 47
Ramon: 66

Jorge: 44
John: 44

Gordon: 51
Art: 57

Tim: 53

Chris: 48

Construction workers suffer from health issues at a greater rate than white collar workers of the
same age. They are 1.54 times more likely to have back problems, they are 2.18 times more
likely to not be able to reach/ extend arms up, and they are 1.67 times more likely unable to lift
10 or more lbs.
-These reported issues are likely related to the physically demanding tasks of the
construction industry.
As construction workers age they become more susceptible to injury, and become less
productive to injury. For example, demanding physical activity may be difficult for older workers
as they have a decreased cardiac output and a reduced tolerance for physical activity. Older
workers are susceptible to losing muscle mass and subsequently decreasing strength. Older
workers are more susceptible to chronic inflammatory disorders, like arthritis, causing limited
joint range of motion and function. Overall, the aging process can involve significant physical
changes that challenge a workers ability to perform physically demanding tasks, such as those
in construction, without incurring injury.
The construction industry is expected to need 25% more workers by the year 2022, and with
more and more students choosing to get a college degree, this means there will be a large
shortage of skilled labor in the construction industry in the next decade.
Within the next 5 years, 31% of all construction companies estimate they will have a shortage of
tradesman, and laborers. 54% of constriction companies estimate they will experience these
shortages. In 15 years, the estimated number jumps up to almost 73% of all construction
companies.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from the year 2000 to the year 2010, college
enrollment increased 37%. From the years 2012-2023 college enrollment is expected to raise
another 14%.

Works Cited
Bureau of Labor Statistics. United States Department of Labor, 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Gonzales, Don. "Workforce trends in the construction industry ." http://www.zurichna.com/. N.p., n.d.
Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
Hanah, David. Personal interview. 11 Nov. 2014.
Schwatka, Natalie V., Lesley M. Butler, and John R. Rosecrance. "An Aging Workforce and Injury in the
Construction Industry." Oxford Journals 34.1 (2011): 156-67. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
Welch, Laura. "The Aging Worker in the U.S. Construction Industry." Occupational Health and Safety.
N.p., 1 Mar. 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.