Economists will tell you that a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, but most people on the street will tell you that the economy is in recession when they and their neighbors fear losing their jobs and their ability to pay their bills so they spend less on just about everything other than essentials and defer those purchases as long as possible. So are we in a recession? I suppose it depends on the definition but I've felt for months that the U.S. is in a recession.

There is no question that we are in an economic slowdown and let's assume for sake of discussion that we are in a recession. What does that mean for college students seeking internships and recent college graduates hunting for entry level jobs and other career opportunities? The answer is that it doesn't mean as much as you might expect. According to Penelope Trunk, author of The Brazen Careerist,

The health of today's job market is not so much a function of economic indicators as it is a function of demographic trends. There is a huge shortage of employees. Baby Boomers are retiring and Generation X and Y are less able to replace the Baby Boomers than had been anticipated; employers receive fewer hours of work per person from post-Boomers because of their focus on family (Generation X) and entrepreneurship (Generation Y). Due to these factors, the employee shortage is increasing, and only a knock-down-drag-out recession will change this sunshine outlook for employees.

In other words, as the current trickle of Baby Boomers exiting the employment market and entering the world of retirement turns first into a flow and then into a flood, demand by employers for replacement workers will increase. There simply aren't nearly enough Gen X'ers to replace those Boomers so employers will need to further accelerate their hiring of Gen Y'ers. So today's college students and recent graduates should be able to look this recession in the eye and understand that it will inconvenience many of them but do serious harm to few of them. For unlike past recessions, the changing demographics of the workplace should ensure that this recession does far more damage to the psyche of the consumer than the wallet of the job seeker.