Mark Melnik, Deputy Director for Research at the BRA, co-authored a report with Northeastern University's Barry Bluestone regarding the future labor market. The report predicts that there will be at least 5 million potential job vacancies nationwide within the next decade, and more jobs than people to fill them by 2018.

The report is titled: After the Recovery: Help Needed - The Coming Labor Shortage and How People in Encore Careers Can Help Solve It.

The paper is based on official forecasts of population growth from the U.S. Census Bureau; forecasts of job growth and labor force participation from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; and estimates of the number of jobs in specific occupations based on the Labor Market Assessment Tool developed by the Dukakis Center and the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

"If the baby boom generation retires from the labor force at the same rate and age as current older workers, the baby bust generation that follows will likely be too small to fill many of the projected new jobs," states Melnik's report.