These 22 States Will See Their Workforce Shrink Over the Next 15 Years
This a view of the Mountain Cabins, duplex homes at Spruce Peak in Stowe, Vermont on December 8, 2005. In the background, is Mt. Mansfield ski area at Stowe. Ski resorts in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are looking for more gray on the slopes. As a growing number of baby boomers approach retirement age, developers are breaking ground on houses and condominiums in an effort to keep them and their money on the East Coast.
Photographer: Sandy MacysThe Green Mountain State might suffer from a much less green labor force over the next 15 years, according to fresh state-by-state projections of the working-age population from the Conference Board.
Vermont was the biggest loser in the bunch, where the working-age population between this year and 2030 is projected to drop by 11.5 percent — 2 percentage points more than the next-closest state. That's even as the working-age population is projected to grow 5.2 percent nationally over the same period. There's a big gap between winners and losers across the country, as shown in the map below.