The coming wave of Boomer retirements will be the top workforce issue during the coming generation, according to a new survey of senior executives. A Robert Half International survey found 42 percent of senior execs citing the retirement wave as the highest-impact trend, followed by global business interactions (31 percent), outsourcing (11 percent) and remote work arrangements (5 percent). “The looming retirement of baby boomers has captured the attention of business leaders who are concerned about retaining the expertise of their most tenured employees,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. Messmer went on to note that many Boomers will delay retirement or seek out flexible work arrangements, blunting the expected impact.

Has Al Gore grabbed the mantle of Boomer-in-Chief from his old boss, Bill Clinton? Syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman thinks so, arguing that Gore’s striking post-political reinvention as the leading global warming evangelist points the way for an entire generation asking itself what’s next as it starts turning 60:

“The attention on Al Gore’s trajectory from loser to laureate misses something about this second act and second actor. As he approaches 60, Gore’s staking out something of a new path for his generation…[Gore is] the model for what Marc Freedman calls the “encore career.” The head of Civic Ventures, a think tank promoting civic engagement as the second act for boomers, Freedman says, “Gore found himself by losing himself - literally losing - and being liberated from ambition, the idea that there’s a particular ladder you have to scurry up and if you don’t make it to the top it’s all over. Essentially he found a different ladder.”

Gore’s reinvention extends beyond his work on the environment. His recent book, The Assault on Reason, is a remarkable analysis of what’s gone wrong with American democracy and prescription for change.

Put all that together with the Nobel Prize and you’ve got to wonder why he’d even consider returning to his first career in politics.

AARP released it’s list of “Best Employers for Workers over 50″ list for 2007. Although S.C. Johnson topped the list of 50, what caught my eye is the dominance of health care and non-profits in the annual ranking. Companies apply to be listed, and AARP judges the applicants based on a range of human resources practices and policies, including recruiting practices, training, education, career development opportunities and flexible work arrangements. Retiree and health benefits are also considered. It’s interesting to see that business is under-represented here compared with other sectors of the economy. I threw the list on a spreadsheet and did a quick analysis; 52 percent of organizations listed are in the health sector; about a third were publicly-held or private companies like S.C. Johnson.

Business awareness of attracting and retaining older workers does seem to be on the rise; just 22 percent of last year’s AARP listees were public or private companies.

Civic Ventures and the Metlife Foundation announced a program of grants to community colleges to help foster training programs for Boomers interested in moving into health care and social services. Ten community colleges will each receive $25,000 grants. This is interesting because the huge network of community colleges across the U.S. could play a big role in training older adults for new careers. Civic Ventures also published a white paper outlining the opportunity, called “Encore Colleges.” The study notes a looming talent shortage in the public interest sector as boomers retire–but also points to data that “half of Americans in their 50s and 60s are interested in jobs that improve their communities–but [don’t] believe that finding such employment would be easy.”

Factoid from Newsweek: 50+ Boomers are jumping into second careers as truckdrivers in record numbers. At some trucking companies, older Boomers now account for a third or more of personnel:

These numbers are good news for trucking companies. A 2005 study showed the industry has a shortage of 20,000 drivers—many workers have been lost to better-paid construction jobs—that will likely increase to 111,000 by 2014, out of about 3 million drivers total. By tapping into the baby-boomer market—largely empty nesters, or second-career seniors who have experienced burnout or layoffs—carriers hope they will be able to keep their rigs running.

Truckin’ Boomers quoted in Newsweek include a former IBM engineer and a laid off healthcare worker. Both said they don’t want to be tied down to desks anymore, and that they love the freedom of the open road.

BusinessWeek’s Marshall Goldsmith has a good Q&A with management consultant Bill Byham on his new book, 70: The New 50. The interview does rehash alot of the well-trodden issues on retention of older workers–are we facing a major brain drain (not necessarily), will Boomers want to keep working past traditional retirement age (yes). Etc.

But Goldsmith quizzes Byham on two questions that interest me very much–why aren’t companies working more aggressively to retain and rehire older workers, and what are the best practices? Here’s the verbatim:

What’s holding organizations back from actively retaining or rehiring older workers?

There are two reasons: 1) inadvertent discrimination and misunderstanding about the skills, motivations, and attitudes of older workers, and 2) fear that they won’t be able to get rid of poorly performing older workers. This is the big unspoken issue. Up until now, organizations have let many poor performers “coast to retirement.” Given the chance to continue to work, organizations fear that many will want to stay longer and that organizations will have to face up to poor performance.

How are progressive organizations dealing with older workers?

They’re getting select older workers to stay on longer. They are rehiring select people after they’ve retired (sometimes necessary because of how their benefit plan is structured). They are hiring select older workers who have retired from other organizations.

I am emphasizing “select” people—the people who have the critical skills, knowledge, contacts, or wisdom; the people who are successful in their current jobs and wish to continue to work. I am not suggesting that organizations should try to get everyone to work longer. For organizations, retaining successful people is a good bet because it is highly likely that their past success will continue on in extended employment.

All this suggests that companies will do well to develop HR professionals who specialize in recruitment and retention of older workers. This probably will develop into a specialized area of HR practice, not too different from diversity management.