The Boomers Stripped Bare of Their Savings, Even

New Age chanting better protection than SEC, say hedge fund managers: "Though older workers in previous recessions were less likely than their younger counterparts to be laid off, that advantage has eroded in recent years, said Munnell, who analyzed more than two decades of Labor Department data on layoffs.

Fewer workers are now protected by union contracts that require newer employees to be laid off first. And older workers now typically have less of a seniority advantage in a workforce that more frequently switches jobs."

The "hired last, fired first" doctrine was one of the foundation stones under the floor of the old factories; so steady and sure that corporate management and union haters could pretend that it was a fact of capitalism rather than the benefit it is - fought for and won by organized labor.