Here at Hodes, we are exposed to numbers on a daily basis. Some are staggering. However, the reality is most companies are not as prepared as they think are. Especially with 2008 around the corner. So, how should you prepare? First, take a look at your inner workings - business drivers, HR drivers, challenges and employee population. Second, measure key factors that effect your business and how you work. Third, take action for improvement. Fourth, start again at #1. If you still think you are prepared, consider these stats.

If we took every job in the U.S. today and shipped it to China, China would still have a labor surplus.

Today's learners will have 10-14 jobs by the age of 38.

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist using technologies that haven't been invented in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet. Some of the jobs they will hold are:

• Telemedicine Tech
• Global Work Process Coordinator
• Chief Innovation Officer
• Skycar Mechanic
• Nano Technician
• Molecular Interventionist
• Personal Entertainment Programmer
• Computer-Human Interaction Technician
• Educational Experiences Designer/Coordinator

1 out of 4 workers today works for a company they have been employed by less than a year. 1 out of 2 have been employed less than five years.

The top 10 in-demand jobs for 2010 did not exist in 2004.

Students starting a 4-year technical or college degree should know that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.

By 2010, middle and older age groups will outnumber younger workers.

In the next 5 years, 500 of the largest companies in the U.S. expect to lose 50% of their senior management.

60 percent of CEOs said their companies don’t consider the aging workforce in their long-range business plans. But the number of people in their executive development years, ages 35 to 44, is declining. Those on deck, ages 25 to 34, are increasing only at a 7 to 8 percent rate.

In closing, I will leave you with this quote by Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric.

When the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is in sight.

This is not meant to bring doom and gloom to your day ... just to get you thinking.

Stats provided by: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Week, Ed Barlow, TheFischBowl, and Former Secretary of Education Richard Riley.