As the new year begins, it’s a good time to review trends that present both challenges and opportunities for companies. Each year, McKinsey and Company publishes a survey of facts and trends regarding the global marketplace. The 2007 survey has not yet been released, but below are some of the more interesting trends highlighted in 2006. Many of the facts and trends cited offer insights into the future of our economy and workforce as well as underscore the effects of globalization, the aging workforce, declining birthrates in developed nations, and emerging economies.

• Total world cross-border trade as a percentage of global GDP: 1990: 18%; 2015 (estimated): 30%
• Change in Germany’s population over the age of 75 from 2005 to 2015: 33%
• Increase in tax burden needed to maintain current benefit levels for Germany’s future generation: 90%
• Change in Japan’s population over the age of 75 from 2005 to 2015: 36%
• Change in Japan’s population under the age of 5 from 2005 to 2015: -13%
• Increase in tax burden needed to maintain current benefit levels for Japan’s future generation: 175%
• Multiple by which e-mail traffic has grown from 1997 to 2005: 215
• Number of US tax returns prepared in India: 2003: 25,000; 2005: 400,000
• Combined market cap of top 150 mega- institutions:1994: $4 trillion; 2004: $11 trillion
• Growth rate of the total wealth controlled by millionaires in China from 1986 to 2001: 600%
• Estimated number of Chinese households to achieve European income levels by 2020 (assuming real income grows at 8 percent annually): 100 million
• Total number of workers in China: 750 million
• Number employed in China’s state-owned companies: 375 million
• Year when the income gap in the United States between the wealthiest 5% and the bottom 10% was the widest ever recorded: 2004
• Proportion of Latin Americans who would prefer a dictator to democracy if he improved their living conditions: 50%
• Muslims as a percentage of the global population: 2000: 19%; 2025 (estimated): 30%
• Number of major violent conflicts: 1991: 58; 2005: 22
• Global CEOs who think overregulation is a threat to growth: 61%
• Probability that a company in an industry’s top revenue quartile will not be there in five years: 30%

Grooming future leaders: Management consulting firm Novations Group of Boston reports an increased focus on executive development as a potential retention tool. A recent Internet survey of 2,050 senior HR executives shows that companies plan to commit 46% of their budgets to developing future leaders. Of that money, about 43% will be dedicated to developing supervisory and management skills. The results also reveal that organizations are already concerned over an exodus of top executives as the baby boomers approach retirement. (Source: Workforce Management Week, Vol. 7, Issue 21, December 2006)

Stemming brain drain: The National Center for Policy Analysis, a nonprofit think tank, is urging the government to take stronger steps to stem the exodus of experienced workers as baby boomers begin to retire. The report strongly recommends that people who are eligible for retirement be encouraged to continue working, yet current government policies encourage seniors not to work. Some suggestions include: Allow retirees to keep their health benefits, regardless of how much they earn in wages; reduce payroll taxes once a worker is eligible to receive Social Security benefits; and index retirement age to life expectancy. (Source: Workforce Management Week, Vol. 7, Issue 21, December 2006)

Hovering parents may harm children’s careers: Helicopter parenting is a term coined for parents who micromanage their children’s lives from kindergarten through college and beyond. Some college job counselors are reporting that parents are acting as representatives for their children, harassing college career counselors, attending job fairs, and calling employers to discover why their son or daughter was turned down for a job. This growing trend may result from parents’ belief that today’s young people are less motivated to work as were prior generations, and so they jump in and take over. Recruiters and school officials say such tactics hurt children’s careers by undermining their confidence, fostering dependence, and curtailing initiative. One HR specialist at NCH marketing Services in Deerfield, IL, says she is tired of making offers to students, only to have them say they need the weekend to discuss it with his or her parents. Also disturbing is that some employers are reporting that helicopter parents are calling employers to discuss their children’s first performance reviews. Baby-boomer parents must allow their children to take responsibility for themselves, including their college major and their career choices. (Source: Eagle Tribune Online)