Our workforce is currently loaded with Baby Boomers, but that will be changing soon. For many companies, having the upper hand to select and reject talent through the tumultuous economic times of 2007-2011 has been a blessing. If companies’ key managers and leaders have taken the opportunity to put into place the structures to transfer and capture the knowledge of senior executives and leaders to the organization’s knowledge repository, they are in good shape. If, however, the Boomers you employ—with their diminished 401Ks and increasing college costs for their Millennial children and underwater mortgages—have held their essential knowledge close to their chests to stay relevant, your company may face a huge problem. A balancing act is definitely at hand. Boomers are uncertain how long they will want or need to stay in their positions.

Generation X began entering the Baby Boomer-dominated workforce as youths in the 1980s with limited success. By 2006, Gen X squarely shared the prime age worker stage with mid-to-late Baby Boomers, making up 22.8 percent of the workforce. In 2016, Gen X will briefly become the majority shareholder at 33.2 percent of the workforce. Gen Xers will be 37-52 years old, and serving as both leaders and prime age workers, bridging the abyss between senior Baby Boomers and energetic, innovative Millennial rising stars.

Our Millennials (Gen Y) have entered the workforce at a slower pace than any other generation. A number of factors influencing their entrance include: personal choices, rising family incomes, competition for available jobs, and increased numbers of young people attending and staying in school longer. By 2016, they will be 17-36 years of age and will make up 32 percent of the workforce.

We will see drastic changes in company structure as the Baby Boomers retire and their coveted spots are taken by the younger generations. Fasten your seatbelts.