One of the biggest problems facing businesses in the long term will be how to replace the growing number of workers who are reaching retirement age. A whopping 71% of business leaders said that replacing aging skilled technical workers is the most pressing challenge. Another 54% said it is replacing senior managers. “Skills shortages will be the single most pressing transaction problem of the next three decades,” wrote one respondent. “Businesses will close because they cannot find enough skilled people.…Shortages are widespread and acute and there is no one ‘magic bullet’ solution.”

There is also widespread agreement on where to look for these new workers, the poll reveals. Hiring immigrants and recruiting abroad were not seen as significant solutions, according to the poll, which asked respondents to rank solutions to the looming workforce shortage on a scale of one (not a solution) to seven (a significant solution). Investing in more in-house training and recruiting students from post-secondary institutions or apprenticeship programs received mean scores of 5.8 and 5.7, respectively. Hiring immigrants or recruiting workers abroad garnered scores of just 4.8 and 4.3, respectively.

As workers reach retirement age, family-run companies may experience more difficulties than businesses run by professional management, respondents predicted. When asked whether family or non-family businesses experience more difficult succession problems, 59% of those polled said family businesses receive a more challenging time picking a new leader.

The business leaders still believe that family businesses play an essential role inthe economy, with 70% strongly agreeing with the statement: “Families will always be essential for creating startup enterprises.” However, when those small startups become successful and grow into large corporations, respondents were evenly divided on whether it is better for the family to retain control or turn management over to professionals outside of the family.

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