I think the decline in the labor rate isn't as much of a mystery as some people think. Baby boomers are definitely retiring. For the last 10 years we've had two

I think the decline in the labor rate isn't as much of a mystery as some people think. Baby boomers are definitely retiring. For the last 10 years we've had two demographic bubbles (baby boomers and millenials) in the job market at the same time, and now that is shifting. Obviously there is more at play when you look at certain demographics in certain regions, but a lot of this can be explained by the number of older people who are choosing to retire or being forced to retire by medical issues. I believe HN misses this issue sometimes because on average tech workers are pretty young. However, anecdotally, in my last office (in the same organization) we had a team of 10. 5 of my coworkers there were over 60 years old... Those people are going to retire soon and hopefully live good long lives outside of the labor pool.