The XX Factor: What women really think.

There's Always Someone Younger, Someone With More Hunger. Don't Let it Take the Fight Out of You.

I was happy for both the editor and the journalism graduate in Emily's story of a freelance assignment in the profession they both love. It emerged after her chronicle of the tough job market for newly-hatched graduate students, just as their fields are contracting.  Since they are young, at least these earnest potential leaders have time to ride out the bad economy. Megan McArdle writes today on the Atlantic's website that workers over 55 who lose their jobs usually do not get rehired, ever. White collar workers, such as executives and journalists, whose salaries are inflated by years of seniority, find the experience they bring to a job, though useful, is no longer cost-effective for their organizations. The resulting layoffs and buyouts have rendered many able baby boomers unemployable way before their children's educations are fully paid for.  These men and women of a certain age must use their well-learned skills to reinvent their professional identities just when they were hoping to coast into retirement.  I know the kids will be ok.  They are resilient, sharp and still free of the expenses of a family.  The older workers need to be more resourceful as their specialized knowledge gets rebooted and rebottled. They won't have the jobs they expected to have, but they can still think for a living. Fortunately, as we mature we learn to adapt. As much as I want to see the next generation of leaders find platforms for their strong ideas and their wondrous inventions, I am eager to see what last best contributions the b-generation will offer the commonwealth before they take their elderly parents' places at the condo pool.