Strategic Human Resource Management

Section Two

Table 2-1
Civilian Labor Force

Source: Labor force and labor force projections extracted from Howard N. Fullerton Jr.
“Labor Force Projections to 2008: Steady Growth and Changing Composition,” Monthly
Labor Review 122, no. 11 (1999): 27.

Labor Shortages

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, firms faced the
tightest U.S. labor markets in 30 years. In some states, the
unemployment rates for adults fell below three percent. The
combination of an exceptionally strong economy and
demographic trends produced the labor shortages that had
been predicted solely from demographic trends. Employers
were expected to respond to the shortage by hiring retired
workers and creating more varied work schedules to
accommodate their needs. Indeed, as the shortage developed,
employers responded in many predicted ways like hiring