Metro Magazine, September/October 2019
TRANSIT RETIREMENT 26 METRO MAGAZINE COM SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2019 To attract younger workers it is important to recognize and embrace generational differences from how they communicate to what they expect from a career and the flexibility they desire from employers By Chris McCarthy 3 WAYS TRANSIT AGENCIES CAN SURVIVE THE RETIREMENT CLIFF T HE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION sector is facing a significant human resource challenge its own aging workforce Experts across industries have warned about the retirement cliff when a large portion of the workforce is eligible to receive pension benefits and retire For the public transportation sector these predictions are coming true now According to a 2017 report from the University Transportation Research Center up to 50 of the current U S transit workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next 10 years Exacerbating the retirement cliff is the declining use of public transportation which is exerting financial pressures on agencies across the U S The American Public Transportation Association found that ridership declined two percent in 2018 from the year before resulting in the lowest ridership since 2006 The convergence of these two trends poses a monumental challenge to public transportation agencies Not only do they need to find an answer to their current staffing challenges but many need to find creative ways to reverse years of ridership declines Fixing the former issue is a first step toward solving the latter problem erhui1979 Signature Getty Images
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