Over the last couple of years there have been new trends that have emerged in the workforce. There has been the introduction of the greybeards which are the workers from the baby boomer era who are reaching their 50's. Then there is the Tech Savvy youth movement which was started by the web bubble, and finally women have become a stronger force not just in the office but in the classroom of MBA programs around the nation. Traditionally, the workforce was predominantly males who were in there late 20's early 40's who ran the workplace and were on the decision boards of their respective organization. But now that the baby boomers are reaching their 50's and the youth & women's movement is coming on strong there are many problems that companies encounter while trying to satisfy all the members of those particular groups as they experience the differences in the workplace and labor force.
The growth in the labor markets has remained steady throughout the years. Job growth continues at a slow pace. The Houston Chronicle shows that in the fourth largest city in the U.S. unemployment fell to 5.3 percent but most Houstonians feel less secure about their jobs. (Sixel, 2005, p. 1) When asked why, a couple of the responses were that they were not satisfied with their jobs or that they were going to go back to school to pursue higher education or retrain the thought process with new insight and new ways of thinking. Employment opportunities are opening up but they are being targeted towards entry level or contract staff. Mark Zandi, who is an economist at economy.com, summarized the situation by stating that "Businesses are creating enough jobs to keep the economy moving forward, but not enough to reduce the number of unemployed or underemployed people." (J., 2005, p. ...