We hope our ongoing series on the senior workforce is aging well! In two recent blog posts [Episode 1 and Episode 2], we saw that Metro Atlanta’s workforce is aging and explored some of the variation in upcoming retirements in different sectors. What is the situation in other top metros (in terms of population), and what might that mean for our ability to attract replacement workers from our “competitors?”

To examine these issues, we will again delve into the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) data.[1]

Figure 1 presents the percentage of the overall workforce ages 55 and over for the top 20 metros in terms of population.[2] The reference line represents the figure for Atlanta.

Figure 1: Metro Comparisons: Percent of Workers 55+, All Sectors (Source: QWI)

The graph above shows that Atlanta is among the metros with the smallest percentage of its workers nearing retirement. Atlanta is basically tied with Seattle, and only Denver has a lower percentage of workers ages 55 and over.

How does this look if we drill down by sector? Figure 2 below presents a comparison of Atlanta with the other 19 largest metros v.v. population.[3] The reference line again depicts the overall figure for Atlanta.

Figure 2: Metro Atlanta Compared (to Other Metros): Share of Workers Aged 55 + by Industry Sector (Source: QWI)

As we see above in Figure 2, the sectors with the very highest percentages of Atlanta employees nearing retirement– 33 (Manufacturing), 61 (Educational Services), 42 (Wholesale Trade) and 92 (Public Administration)– are also among the top groups across the other major metros. And the sectors with the lowest percentages– 51 (Information), 71(Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation), and 72 (Accommodation and Food Services)– have some of the smallest numbers of older workers as well.

But there are also some differences: sector 52 (Real Estate and Rental and Leasing) is #2 overall in terms of the percentage of employees 55 and over in the other top metros but only occupies the #5 spot in Atlanta. And though it has a smaller percentage of older workers overall, Atlanta does have a higher percentage of workers age in sector 52 (Finance and Insurance) than do the remaining metros taken as a group.

The first post in this series flagged sector 62 (Health Care and Social Assistance) as having the largest number of employees due for retirement. Figure 3 below compares the top 20 metros focused on this sector.

Figure 3: Comparing Metros’ Share of 55+ Workers, NAICS 62 (Health Care and Social Assistance (Source: QWI)

As Figure 3 shows above demonstrates, Atlanta is among the metros with the lowest percentages of workers in this sector nearing retirement age. So, we will likely need to train our own workers for this sector rather than finding a donor among the other metros.

For the two posts to conclude this series, Maria Sotnikova will take a deeper dive into specific jobs (rather than employment sectors).

Want to learn more?

There are too many possible combinations of metro areas and job sectors to discuss in the confines of a blog post. We have therefore created a visualization as follows to facilitate further exploration.

Figure 4: Workforce 55+ Visualized via Dashboard (Source: Census Bureau QWI; ARC RAD and Tableau)

Footnotes for Post #3

[1] As mentioned previously, the Census Bureau is dependent on its partnerships with state departments of labor to produce QWI estimates. States sometimes opt out of this partnership, and they do not always provide the required data in a timely manner. So, while we were able to examine data for metro Atlanta from Q2 2023, this analysis must revert to an earlier time point– Q2, 2021.

[2] We’re #6, per the Census Bureau’s most recent population estimates.

[3] In other words, this is the number of employees sector ages 55 and over in each sector for the remaining 19 top metros, divided by the total number of employees in each sector. Industries are sorted in descending order of the percentage of Atlanta workers ages 55 and over.