There's tremendous demand for skilled people at all levels of almost every organization and almost every industry and that's true in almost every part of the country.

The thing that people need to remember is that downsizing may be back on the front pages, but the downsizing never slowed down. Downsizing has been a constant and regular feature of the new working world, and it will continue to be.

If you're one of those people who gets tons of work done very well, very fast, and you can prove it, you're not going anywhere.

In today's global economy, employees and their employers need to think about their working lives in a whole new way, ... Everything is turned on its head. [Job] security is not about stability; it's about mobility. The very same forces that are changing today's workplace are working on Gen X, and they are dovetailing.

The No. 1 thing is to be one of those people who gets a lot of work done very well, very fast. Don't be scared into submission by all the downsizing activity. That's exactly the wrong message to take.

We are all moving into the workplace of the future together. It's all about competing for the best people. And the best people are thinking about their worklives in a whole new way. [Employers] have to lose their attachment to the old-fashioned career path. We can all learn from the emerging workforce and generation.