Eighteen percent of the workforce could retire within the nextfive years.

The finding, in a recent report by the ADP Retirement ResearchInstitute, a research arm of the global provider of humancapital management solutions, is an appropriate reminder of theheft of the Baby Boomer generation and the impact their aging will have on society.

The report examined six industries industries includinghospitality, public administration, manufacturing, health care,education and retail. The percentage of individuals anticipated toexit the workforce ranged from 9% in hospitality to 28% in publicadministration.

Many have contended that due to the financial crisis andincreased life expectancy among various other factors, peoplewill be working past traditional retirement age. For thepurpose of the study, ADP assumed that the average retirement agewas 61. Researchers concluded that in many industries, individualswill retire at 61 despite theories suggesting otherwise.

Although the run-off of Baby Boomers could help bring down adisproportionately high youth unemployment rate, many industriesvalue their older, experienced workforce and fear the impendingretirement wave.

“Retirement data provides a critical glimpse into the future ofa company's workforce. Businesses will want to assess how theirworkforces compare to the averages and consider strategies forrecruitment and training in order to replace the significant lossof knowledge, experience and company culture that can be expected,”according Ahu Yildirmaz, senior director, Market Insights at theADP Research institute.