This means a projected shortage of about 10 million IT workers by the end of the decade, Vitalos said.
"By 2010, we will have gone from the surplus situation of employees to a work force situation of scarcity, primarily in highly skilled, technical areas," he said. "From that perspective, the aging demographic is an issue."
Vitalos continued by saying there is an underlying strategic choice in the situation -- stay as is, or change. And the turnover is an opportunity for fundamental change.
Strategic tips and useful ideas to plan for and cope with the changing work force were broken down into two steps. First was formulating an effective response and determining attrition significance for the specific organization, which included determining the context of future operations, the loss projection, an impact assessment, and understanding the aging work force in a "value" context.
Step two was formulating an effective response, potential elements of which include successful aging work force management, talent management, work force management, analytics, industry-specific solutions, technology solutions, assistive technology, learning and development, and succession management.
"There's no silver bullet," Vitalos said. "You need to use a holistic approach if you want to succeed, and there are finite windows of opportunity."