Publication Date: July 22, 2025
🕒 8 minute read
In recent years, America – and acutely West Michigan – has been drifting into a workforce crisis that few foresaw with sufficient urgency. A perfect storm of declining birth rates, aging Baby Boomers, and shifting societal norms has left the country facing what experts now call the “sandsdemic” – a term that means “without people”, coined to describe the dwindling supply of labor as if sand is slipping out of an hourglass, is reshaping the labor market in profound ways. This crisis, more commonly referred to as the demographic drought, coined by Lightcast (formerly Emsi), signals a long-term shortage of workers that threatens to stall economic growth.
A Storm Decades in the Making
To understand today’s labor scarcity, we must first look back. The Baby Boomer generation (born 1946–1964), an enormous cohort of 76 million Americans, once flooded the job market and drove unprecedented growth. From the 1950s through the 1990s, the labor force boomed thanks to high birth rates, growing female workforce participation, and abundant jobs that made upward mobility accessible.
But that era of expansion masked deeper vulnerabilities. As birth rates declined far below the 2.1 replacement rate, labor force participation plateaued, and Boomers began to retire en masse, the structure of the labor market began to unravel. In fact, 3.2 million more boomers retired in 2020 as compared to 2019. As of 2024, Boomers are now the second-smallest generation in the U.S. workforce, and more than 11,000 Americans turn 65 every day, accelerating a phenomenon dubbed the “Silver Tsunami”.
The Labor Shortage Is Already Here
Despite modest overall population growth, the U.S. labor force is not keeping pace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that from 2024 to 2032, the U.S. population will grow by 18 million – but the labor force will grow by only 2.3 million. That’s a growth ratio of nearly 8:1, a gap that highlights the urgent nature of this drought.
Particularly alarming is the falling labor force participation rate (LFPR). It has dropped from pre-pandemic levels of 63.4% to around 62%, leaving millions of people sidelined – not unemployed in the traditional sense, but not even looking for work. Some are early retirees; others are caregivers, students, or struggling with addiction or incarceration – issues that disproportionately affect prime-age men.
Here in Michigan, labor force participation rates have declined across all working-age groups since 2000. In fact, TalentFirst’s Talent Solutions Playbook identifies this trend as one of the most urgent challenges facing West Michigan employers today, alongside low geographic mobility, insufficient immigration, and falling birth rates.
The Sandsdemic: When the Hourglass Runs Dry
The sandsdemic captures the sense of slow-motion crisis: a nation running out of workers as if grains of sand were slipping away, one by one. Industries from construction to healthcare are particularly hard hit, both of which are heavily reliant on lower-skilled labor and are rapidly losing talent to retirement with few replacements in sight.
While automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are often presented as solutions, current technology has not yet scaled fast or broadly enough to fill these gaps. Even in sectors like retail, where self-checkout systems are common, demand for human workers remains stubbornly high.
Local Employers Are Taking Action
National trends can seem beyond our control, but West Michigan employers have significant agency in how they respond. The Talent Solutions Playbook by TalentFirst outlines six strategic levers that employers can pull to future-proof their talent pipelines:
- Know their team and recruits to understand what workers value and what motivates them at their stage of life and career
- Build an inclusive employer brand to attract underrepresented talent
- Hire for attitude and train for skills – especially important given the high number of residents with “some college, no degree”
- Invest in upskilling, especially for foreign-born workers
- Establish pipelines with local education providers and immigrant-serving organizations
- Embrace automation for roles where labor shortages are most severe
Critically, these strategies must be grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles. That includes eliminating artificial barriers like English-only job applications or rigid credentialing systems that screen out otherwise qualified immigrant talent.
Immigration: A Practical and Powerful Lever
In addition, immigration offers one of the most actionable and impactful levers to increase labor supply. Historically, immigration has played a critical role in filling workforce gaps, particularly in industries like agriculture, construction, healthcare, and hospitality.
According to Lightcast data, all labor force growth since 2019 has come from foreign-born workers. However, immigration levels remain far below what is needed. The U.S. is currently missing over 2 million immigrants from labor force projections due to pandemic-era visa slowdowns and policy constraints.
Beyond filling immediate needs, immigrants bring diversity, resilience, and entrepreneurial energy. For instance, 1 in 4 construction workers and nearly 1 in 5 manufacturing workers are foreign-born. The healthcare sector is equally dependent: 1 in 4 health aides and 1 in 5 nurses are immigrants.
Additionally:
- 1 in 9 workers in Kent County is an immigrant
- Immigrants contributed $307.8 million in federal taxes and $122.3 million in state and local taxes
- Immigrant-led households held $1.2 billion in spending power, supporting local businesses and economies
- According to the New Americans in Kent County 2023 report, immigrants made up 8.4% of the population but contributed nearly 10% of the GDP, and were overrepresented in critical sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality .
These aren’t abstract figures – they’re a vital part of our local labor infrastructure.
The Path Forward: Rebuild with Inclusion
Solving the demographic drought won’t come from a single source. The 2024 report from the Michigan Global Talent Initiative calls for more robust collaboration between employers, government, and nonprofits to reduce systemic barriers facing immigrants and refugees – from licensing and credentialing to transportation and housing .
Employers must adopt a multi-pronged approach that includes:
- Re-engaging the sidelined workforce through flexible work, childcare support, and inclusive hiring strategies.
- Investing in workforce development to upskill domestic talent and prepare young people – especially those not pursuing college – for high-demand roles.
- Audit your job descriptions for hidden barriers
- Partner with local immigrant advocacy organizations (such as Samaritas, Bethany Christian Services, or the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce)
- Offer paid ESL classes, transportation stipends, or credentialing support
- Advocate for state and federal immigration policies that support employment-based immigration and visa reforms to make it easier and faster for qualified workers to enter the country, including pathways for temporary, skilled, and essential labor.
Supporting these efforts is not only the right thing to do – it’s good business. As TalentFirst emphasizes, the most resilient employers will be those who align their brand, hiring practices, and workplace culture with a globally inclusive mindset.
Final Thoughts
The demographic drought is not coming – it’s already here. And the sandsdemic is not just a catchy metaphor but a stark warning of a labor market under immense pressure. Immigration, alongside better workforce engagement and innovation, offers not a silver bullet, but a lifeline. It’s time to stop watching the sand slip away and start building the bridges that will secure the workforce of tomorrow.
Sources:
https://lightcast.io/resources/research/the-rising-storm
https://lightcast.io/resources/research/demographic-drought#BridgeGap
MGTI-2024-Annual-Report.pdf
new_americans_in_kent_county_2023.pdf
https://www.talentfirst.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/EY-D-I-Means-Growth.pdf
https://talentfirst.net/talent-solutions-playbook/