I believe that most of the western world is heading in the same direction and we're really just along for the ride to see what happens.
We had a better start than my parents and then my girls had a better start again. At one point I believed that things would just continue to improve for each generation, then in these last..maybe 15 years...the reality started to sink in that such continued growth couldn't sustain itself. We soon realised that the retirement age would be much further ahead for us than our parents. I probably wasn't expecting just how hard it would be for my daughters as they move into an adult world which seems to be collapsing around us. In some ways it's a bigger shock for them because they've had such a comfortable start in life. They aren't used to going without or making do.
With regards jobs/applicants balance, I think you've got the nail on the head. My husband has always worked in engineering and manufacturing, which has dwindled away as companies have moved to eastern Europe or China. He was very lucky to get his current job and they are trying to find C++ programmers who can work in a manufacturing and engineering setting. The people they're interviewing have no clue on this side of programming, because we're not a manufacturing country any more. So the jobs are there, but not the people with the skills to do them. Their one programmer is Russian, but he needs help with all the new work coming. I made a joke that they might need to start hiring from Russia.