US Faces a Deficit of 6 Million Workers in Less Than a Decade

US employers will confront a shortage of some 6 million workers within a decade, according to a new study.

A combination of retirements, mismatches between workers and available jobs, and a decline in workforce participation among men is set to drive the gap, according to analysis by Lightcast, a provider of labor market data. Based on expected growth in the population, it projects a 6 million shortfall of workers by 2032 compared with the current level.

Over the next five to seven years, “our labor pool’s growth will not match our population’s,” said Ron Hetrick, an economist at Lightcast. “We ...