Many familiar themes are presented in the article, so not much to add there. However, the comments from the engineer(s) about their skills not being current do provide another useful data point about our new "autodidactism no longer optional if you want to stay relevant" era. The time when you could simply learn a skill/trade/get a degree and be set for life (and just focus on the other stuff you always wanted to do, like hobbies, friends, vacations, whatever) is long gone. Working people need to start adjusting to this new era of hypercompetition (which will necessitate a greater focus on career in general - in addition to the aforementioned constant learning - and that means sacrificing time spent on other things), as distasteful as many find it.
Another article that was previously posted on that subject:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/business/to-stay-relevant-...