Sept. 10, 2025 11:15a
(WGTD)---A top labor economist disagrees with a recent U.S. Labor Department forecast that the country’s workforce is going to grow by 3% in the next ten years.
Ron Hetrick is scheduled to make his case in Kenosha Thursday at a Business and Professional Coalition luncheon at Carthage College.
Speaking in advance on WGTD’s Morning Show, Hetrick explained that a combination of factors may not make that prediction come true. Among them, a declining birthrate, a younger population that may not want to work as hard as their parents and an aging population with a greater percentage who are able to retire at an earlier age. "I think you will continue to see an increasing number of older people retiring (early) because no one has factored in the wealth aspect," he says.
Keys toward blunting a projected labor shortage are things like persuading more young people to go into service jobs, and a greater reliance on immigrants and females to beef up the workforce.
And if none of that pans out? "What I'm looking at here is life is going to get really inconvenient," Hetrick said. "It's going to look like it did in '21 and '22 when you want things and you can't get them. You're going to go to a restaurant and you're not able to sit down. You're going to want to order something but you're not going to be able to get it right away. We're not used to that," Hetrick said.
Hetrick is currently employed as a senior labor economist at the consulting firm, Lightcast. He's authored white papers such as "Who is Going to Do the Work" and "The Rising Storm."
Thursday's luncheon is open to the public, but registration is required in advance by going to Carthage’s website.
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