http://www.nytimes.com/pages/national/nationalspecial2/index.html?hp In the 1990s some "futurists" predicted that professionals in the 21st century would have several careers in their longer healthier life-times. Professional Development historically assumes the professional has the money to pay for the development classes. However in the global "recession" since Fall 2008, that may no longer be the case for a larger percentage of professionals and may remain the case for years to come. In their "Continuing Education" special section, the New York Times of 10.08.26 offered four (4) articles about how some professionals are keeping up and "staying current" with their knowledge and skill sets. But professional development can also be intended as cross training to become qualified to work in a related or different field. And in the more obvious global economy, some professionals are learning a second language.