For decades, workers from across the United States have flocked to New York in pursuit of career opportunities and six-figure salaries—but the landscape has shifted. Professionals now compete for a limited pool of roles, while baby boomers hold tightly onto positions that might otherwise become available.

A new report from the office of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul finds that the state continues to grapple with strained hiring and cautious business expansion amid an uncertain economy. Total statewide employment is projected to grow just 0.2% in 2026 and 0.3% in 2027, after rising 1% the year before. Hiring is expected to remain sluggish through next year, the report forecasts, with workforce growth subdued by New York's shrinking, graying population.

“The growth of the State's labor supply will be limited due to constraints in population growth and the aging workforce,” the report notes. “These trends will likely restrict employment growth, but unemployment rates should remain stable.”

Roughly 19.3% of New York's population is now aged 65 and older, up from 15% a decade ago, according to Hochul's mid-year report. The aging cohort is intensifying demand for social and healthcare services—industries that have been battling severe labor shortages across the country. Complicating matters, America's oldest working cohort is delaying retirement to make ends meet. A 2022 study from New York's Office of Budget Policy and Analysis found that residents aged 65 and up were the only group to show significant labor growth over the past 10 years. That means older Americans are driving demand for workers in certain industries while potentially delaying the vacancies younger professionals would compete to fill.

“Demographic shifts are driving demand for health care and social assistance, making this the fastest growing sector in the labor market,” the recent report explains. “Anticipated shifts in Federal healthcare funding raise concerns about the sector's ability to sustain employment growth. Meanwhile, job growth in leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and construction is expected to remain weak due to high interest rates and a slowing economy.”

For readers tracking the forecast, healthcare and social assistance is the sector to watch through 2027: an aging population is pulling hiring upward, while anticipated shifts in Federal healthcare funding could restrain it. How those funding questions are resolved will help shape whether the state's fastest-growing sector keeps that label.

As a result, New York is struggling to expand its pool of available workers even as businesses pull back on hiring. The state's workforce was 1% smaller in 2021 than it was a decade earlier, compared with a nationwide increase of 5.1% over the same period, according to the 2022 report. Nor is the combination of a shrinking labor pool and an increasingly older workforce unique to New York: across the U.S., baby boomers are staying on the job well past traditional retirement age, reshaping what it means to leave the workforce for good.

America's graying workforce: baby boomers stay afloat by keeping their jobs

The number of Americans working past age 65 has quadrupled since the 1980s, according to 2023 analysis from Pew Research Center, with around a fifth of the older generation still holding down jobs.

Beyond maximizing access to employer-provided healthcare and keeping their schedules full, Americans are working longer because they worry their savings could run dry. More than two in five retired Americans—about 20 million people—fear their funds will not support their ideal retirement lifestyle, according to a 2025 survey from investment banking firm D.A. Davidson. Meanwhile, 2026 research from Economist Enterprise finds that Americans plan to work four years longer than they would wish in order to keep their heads above water amid a high cost of living and surging healthcare expenses.

“I think that the days of retirement being a one-time, one-way exit and then you're done are over,” Elizabeth White, author of 55, Underemployed, told Fortune in 2024.

For some who have already called it quits on their careers, that fear has already become a reality. Nearly 20% of American retirees are “struggling” or “living the nightmare,” according to a 2025 study from Schroders. Only 5% said they were “living the dream.” And the price of clocking out for good now runs into the millions.

When BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm, surveyed U.S. voters earlier this year on how much they think they would need to retire comfortably, the average response landed around $2.1 million. CEO Larry Fink said that “almost no one” is close to reaching that goal. BlackRock's study found that 62% of respondents had less than $150,000 saved for retirement—about 7% of the $2.1 million they believe they need to stop working. Fink also pointed out that the U.S.'s climbing senior care costs and lack of preparedness for rising life expectancy are exacerbating America's retirement savings problem.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.