ICOT, I agree that very soon private industry pensions will be extinct. It’s true that private companies are attempting to renege on promised health benefits & pensions. I read in the Wall Street Journal years ago about one company that stopped paying in retirees’ health benefits by claiming that the “lifetime guarantee” clause did not apply to the retirees’ lifetime, but to the fund’s lifetime. Now that automakers are declaring bankruptcy the problem will only worsen, especially because the PBGC will probably run out of money soon.
Regarding civil service jobs, I’m not so sure those are a panacea either. I have a relative who has been working for the federal gov’t for about 20 years now. During that time, many positions in her department have been eliminated through attrition, so now she is doing the work of more people. At one point, her boss considered eliminating her dep’t & replacing them with contractors.
I worked for a defense contractor for a couple of years. I think the military-industrial complex will be a growth industry for a while, both for gov’t employees & contractors, though of course only the former will have pensions.