That question is explored in a Sunday editorial from the Charlottesville Daily Progress:

Elements of the brewing storm:
—Loss of America’s “most educated generation” of workers as they age and retire.
—Replacement of that generation with a new pool of workers who are less educated than their predecessors.
—Simultaneous competition from other nations that are catching up to America, and planning to pass us, in terms of workforce education and skills.
—An economic downturn and budget constraints that threaten to limit funding from education just when, as the chancellor sees it, needs are growing.
The World War II generation was called “the greatest generation.” Their children, the baby-boomers, are “the most educated,” whose productivity and creativity have energized America’s economic engine. They have been aided by the contributions made by the best and brightest young people from other nations who have come here for schooling and stayed for opportunity.

So, how does this impact the recession in Virginia and the nation?

The economic cycle will swing upward again, of course. And then America, and Virginia, will need skilled workers to fuel resurgent growth.
The question to ask now is: Will we have them when we need them?