--- title: Spanning the Skills Gap | Hogan Assessments description: Companies need to identify which people in their organizations are nearing retirement and what skills they will take with them. --- [CONTACT US](https://info.hoganassessments.com/get-in-touch/?q=contact-us) +1.918.749.0632 - [![](https://info.hoganassessments.com/hs-fs/file-29221339-png/images/iconsLnkIn.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2199407&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr) - [![](https://info.hoganassessments.com/hs-fs/file-29221437-png/images/iconsFB.png)](https://www.facebook.com/hoganassessments) - [![](https://info.hoganassessments.com/hs-fs/file-29221545-png/images/iconsTwtr.png)](https://twitter.com/HoganAssessment) - [![](https://info.hoganassessments.com/hs-fs/file-29221682-png/images/iconsYT.png)](http://www.youtube.com/user/hoganassessments/featured) - [![](https://info.hoganassessments.com/hs-fs/file-29221802-png/images/iconsRSS.png)](https://info.hoganassessments.com/CMS/UI/Modules/BizBlogger/rss.aspx?tabid=541267&moduleid=1088272&maxcount=25) [![Hogan Assessments](https://info.hoganassessments.com/hs-fs/file-1394468644-png/images/HoganLogoMain_0.png)](http://www.hoganassessments.com/) [![globeMain](https://info.hoganassessments.com/hs-fs/file-29224251-png/images/globeMain.png)](http://www.hoganassessments.com/?q=content/international-training) ## [Spanning the Skills Gap](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/spanning-the-skills-gap) Posted by [Hogan Assessments](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/author/hogan-assessments) on Tue, Jan 28, 2014 - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) In our ebook [*5 Things Keeping HR Up At Night*](https://info.hoganassessments.com/5-things-keeping-hr-up-at-night/), we identified succession planning as one of HR practitioners’ major concerns moving into 2014. Baby Boomers, many of whom were forced to work later in life due to the recent financial crisis, are finally starting to age out of the workforce, taking with them a wealth of essential knowledge and skills. In his [post](http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/is-the-aging-workforce-really-creating-your-skill-shortages/) on the Harvard Business Review, however, author David DeLong points out that companies need to identify which people in their organizations are nearing retirement and what skills they will take with them. He also makes an interesting point: “Not all skills gaps are due to looming retirements. For example, shortages of mobile app developers, networking engineers, and sustainability managers are due to the rapid growth of new industries. These jobs didn’t exist a decade ago, and there is no older generation to draw on. This poses different challenges, such as identifying patterns of your most successful hires, like the schools they come from, where they live, and other characteristics that predict high performance and retention.” This challenge isn’t limited to tech companies – how do you effectively build a workforce when you don’t have any incumbent data on which to base your decisions? Check out this [30-second video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1zjsITUCY) for the answer. ### Subscribe to our Blog [![](http://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/153377/711cc0c8-c2ea-4b1c-b2eb-bc52e9361086.png)](http://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/153377/711cc0c8-c2ea-4b1c-b2eb-bc52e9361086) ### Meet Our Bloggers [Blaine Gaddis](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/blaine-gaddis/) [Chris Duffy](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/chris-duffy/) [Dan Paulk](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/dan-paulk/) [Darin Nei](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/darin-nei/) [Dustin Hunter](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/dustin-hunter/) [Jackie Sahm](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/jackie-vanbroekhoven/)[Jennifer Lowe ](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/jennifer-lowe/)[Jesse Whitsett](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/jesse-whitsett/)[Jocelyn Hays](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/jocelyn-hays) [Krista Pederson](https://info.hoganassessments.com/krista-pederson)[ Kristin Switzer ](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/kristin-switzer/)[Michael Sanger](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/michael-sanger) [Miranda Hanes](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/miranda-hanes/)[Morgan Meister-Murry](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/morgan-meister/) [Rebecca Callahan](https://info.hoganassessments.com/rebecca-callahan)[Robert Hogan](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/robert-hogan/) [Scott Gregory](https://info.hoganassessments.com/scott-gregory?&t=19495)[Steve Nichols](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/steve-nichols/) [Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic](https://info.hoganassessments.com/blog/tomas-chamorro-premuzic/) ### Most Popular Posts ### Connect ### [How To Buy Why Hogan?](http://www.hoganassessments.com/content/how-buy) © 2014 Hogan Assessment Systems [Privacy Policy](http://www.hoganassessments.com/content/privacy-policy) | [Legal Policy](http://www.hoganassessments.com/content/legal-policy)