Top of the day to you out there!  I'm Donna J. Jodhan at the business desk and I am delighted to be back with you after a bit of a working vacation.  I thank you all for all of your feedback both positive as well as negative because it is through both that I can become better at answering your questions.
I do not have any questions in my e-bag today as it is my first day back so just for this week, I am going to share an editorial that I wrote a few weeks ago for another magazine.
I'll be back next week with my regular feature.
I'm Donna J. Jodhan wishing you a terrific day and week ahead.
 

 

The knowledge divide
By Donna J. Jodhan
 
How ready are we to tackle the problem of the knowledge divide?  Up until the economy started to slide, this was a very big problem but now that things have changed somewhat, yes it is still a problem but we have been given somewhat of a reprieve.
 
With the present economic crisis playing havoc with the incomes of retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers, more and more persons have been forced to put off retiring choosing instead to stay longer in the workplace.  This was not the case about a year ago when so many aging baby boomers were so anxious to stampede out of the workplace and into retirement.  At that time many companies were facing a real problem of having to cope with an ever widening knowledge divide.  A divide that was threatening to swallow us up but now; things have changed drastically.
 
In years to come, many companies may look back on this economic crisis as having played a huge role in saving them from having to deal with the knowledge divide.  As things stand today, aging baby boomers are choosing to stay longer in the labour force and retirees and seniors are choosing to seek jobs to help them bolster their diminished savings.  These two factors will definitely help to stem the knowledge divide for now but make no mistake!  As soon as the economy turns around, aging baby boomers will be packing their bags in droves and retirees and seniors will be deserting their temporary positions in favor of days of not having to work. 
 
Of course, it may take years before the problem of the knowledge divide comes to the front again but in the meantime, I do believe that we should be taking this lull to prepare more thoroughly for this eventuality.  What can we do to prepare?  More incentives for aging baby boomers and experienced workers to pass on their knowledge and skills to younger workers.  More initiatives to ensure that knowledge and skills are passed on in a timely and appropriate manner. 

 

What exactly is the knowledge divide?  The knowledge and skills that baby boomers possess and will eventually take away with them versus the lack of knowledge and experience that those in their twenties and thirties possess.

 

Donna J Jodhan is the president of Sterling Creations.
Now you can view blogs and editorials written by Donna at:
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com (Donna Jodhan!  Advocating accessibility for all)
 http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 (access and accessibility)
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php (accessibility issues in Canada)
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com (under the editorials section, an international perspective)
http://www.onestopbookcafe.com (under the café talk link) 
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm (important answers to consumers concerns)
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html (monthly editorial)
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html (blogs for language professionals and accessibility consultants)