Four Generations in the AEC Workforce: Is Your Firm Ready?
AEC firms are navigating a significant workforce transition. Four distinct generations are working together, each bringing unique experiences and expectations to the workplace. Navigating this generational diversity is especially critical within architecture, engineering, and construction firms, where knowledge management (KM) directly impacts talent retention, project success, and firm resilience.
The Generational Spectrum in AEC
Baby Boomers are retiring, taking decades of tacit expertise and deep industry relationships with them. Gen X professionals occupy senior delivery and operations roles, often valuing documentation and practical solutions. Millennials, now the largest demographic, are ascending into leadership and expecting digital-first processes and streamlined systems. Gen Z talent, digital natives by nature, look for instant access to information, continuous feedback, and mentorship. These differences affect how knowledge moves within your firm and whether it is lost, hoarded, or shared.
Baby Boomers — Retiring, high levels of tacit expertise, learned through experience and mentoring
Gen X — Senior delivery and business operations leaders, values documentation and practicality
Millennials — Largest workforce group and rising leaders, expectations for digital user-friendly systems
Gen Z — Digital-native talent driving rapid change, wants instant information and people access, desires continuous feedback
The challenge? How do we transfer knowledge from the generations who built the industry to those who will transform it?
The Risk: Knowledge Leaving Faster Than It Can Be Replaced
As Baby Boomers retire, their accumulated expertise (spanning project delivery, client relationships, and decades of lessons learned) is disappearing at an accelerating pace. Gen X leaders carry much of the firm’s operational knowledge, but often lack time to document it. Meanwhile, Millennials and Gen Z employees expect accessible, digital, and on-demand learning that many firms are still building toward.
Without an intentional KM strategy that connects these needs, firms face growing operational and cultural risks:
Rework increases when lessons learned aren’t shared
New hires struggle to find guidance or clear answers
Critical expertise remains siloed in people’s heads
Project quality suffers from inconsistent standards
The challenge isn’t only about technology, it’s about continuity. As one generation transitions out and another rises, firms must create systems and habits that make knowledge visible, transferable, and actionable.
The Opportunity: KM as a Cross-Generational Connector
Knowledge management enables firms to:
Capture experience before it disappears
Enable rapid onboarding and learning
Standardize best practices for consistency
Transfer accountability to new leaders with confidence
Designing KM for All Generations
By embedding KM into everyday project workflows and leadership practices, firms can retain their intellectual capital while equipping the next generation to lead with confidence. A successful approach includes:
Structured knowledge capture from senior experts through interviews, lessons learned, project lifecycle checkpoints (and even better if this can be done with those seeking to build their knowledge)
Accessible, searchable resources built into everyday digital systems
Cultural reinforcement where learning is expected, not optional
Digital collaboration tools that support hybrid and distributed work environments
Leadership’s Role
Executives and managers must actively champion KM by sharing insights, celebrating collaborative contributions, and aligning knowledge practices with business strategy. When leaders connect KM to the firm’s competitive advantage, employees see the value in participation.
Building Future-Ready Capability
Firms that learn, adapt, and transfer knowledge efficiently will not just retain talent, they will attract the next generation of leaders. Success means:
Preserving intellectual capital
Supporting new ways of working
Consistently transferring expertise to build resilience
Your firm’s greatest asset is its people and the knowledge they hold (and transfer) shapes your competitive edge. Investing in cross-generational KM today ensures your business thrives tomorrow.