Worldwide demographics are another major forces and shaper of global talent challenges. In North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia, the age of retirement is being ushered in by the Baby Boomer generation. While this may be a relatively short term phenomenon in North America (due to current birth and immigration rates), population shrinkage is a longer term event in Western Europe and Japan. The long term-term outlook is revealing: by 2025 the number of people aged 15-64 is projected to fall by 7% in Germany, 9% in Italy and 14% in Japan. While
the populations of many developed economies are aging and shrinking in size, the populations of developing and emerging
economies are expanding and getting younger. There are major variations in demographic characteristics by age and by region that multinational firms need to know and consider in locating and relocating their operations internationally.