Some of the nation’s largest manufacturers could lose more than $100 million from baby-boomer retirements over the next five years, reports Advanced Technology Services Inc. in its latest benchmark study.

More than 100 senior manufacturing executives surveyed say if 40%, as forecasted by industry experts, of their skilled labor force were to retire by 2013 they would each lose on average $52 million from recruitment and training costs and lost productivity, according to the Peoria, Ill.-based maintenance outsourcing firm, which commissioned the study conducted by Nielsen Research.

Of companies with more than $1 billion in revenue, 44% say they could lose as much as $100 million, compared with 46% reporting the same in a 2005 study. Only 19% of manufacturing executives surveyed say baby-boomer retirements will have “no impact at all,” down from 32% three years earlier.

Overall, 81% of respondents say they would be affected in some way by the shortage, up from 68% in 2005.