This paper was presented to a meeting of the Wellington Exchange, an international group of higher education officials, in December 2008. One of the topics of the meeting was around the issue of possible skills shortages emerging as a result of demographic trends, with the ageing of the population of developed countries. The paper argues that this is not an issue about which we need to be alarmist. There is little evidence of impending skills shortages. This is not to say that there will be no skills shortages in specific areas. In any case, the business cycle could have a much more dramatic effect on the demand for skills than demographic trends. (Contains 5 tables, 8 figures, and 3 footnotes.) [This work has been produced on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments.]