亲爱的安妮：我希望我说的这些不要听起来牢骚太盛，毕竟现在有很多人连份工作都没有，他们的经济状况更艰难，但我真的快被逼疯了。八年前，我在27岁时以出色的销售业绩进入现在这家公司，头两年，我工作很出色，晋升到了中层管理者的行列（担任地区销售经理，管理一个分布在12个州的300人团队）。

    然后，我就在这个位子上不动了。虽然过去5年（包括经济危机期间），我带领的团队每年都实现了两位数的销售额增长，我所有的绩效考核也一直十分出色，但我估计短期内不会获得升职，甚至永远都不会，为什么？因为我的老板也才50岁左右，她可能永远都不会离开这家公司；而且她的老板今年也就59岁，已经多次表示70岁之前不会退休。因此，我似乎有两个选择：离开这家我很喜欢为之工作的公司，到其他公司寻求晋升的通道；或者，接受现实，既然上层没有空间，就继续呆在自己的位子上。你怎么想？——虚度光阴

    亲爱的“虚度光阴”：先同情一个！我亲爱的朋友，你碰到了人力资源圈子里所谓的“灰色天花板”——婴儿潮一代人占据上百万的优薪高级职位。人数超过8,000万的婴儿潮一代或许应该现在就大批退休，为像你这样的X一代腾出发展空间。

    但对于你以及在美国约5,000万的其他X世代人，很不幸的是并不会出现这种情况。这得归咎于经济衰退，至少一定程度上是这样：经济下滑，包括房地产价格大跌，威胁到了婴儿潮一代的财务安全感，致使一些人至少把退休年龄推迟了几年，另外一些人则无限期推迟。

    但婴儿潮一代最主要的问题是他们人数太多了，而且他们处处领先一步，当你还在孜孜梦想升职的时候，他们已经占据了所有的专用办公室。好像这还不足以封锁企业的升职通道一样，他们的孩子（千禧一代，或称为“回声潮一代”）紧跟着X一代进入职场。即便到时候你那50岁的老板真的决定另谋高就，你又如何知道那些29岁、懂科技的年轻才俊不会越过你，继承你老板的位子。这种情况并不是没有发生过。

    柯蒂斯•奥登能够理解你的痛苦。作为波士顿咨询公司Prescient Talent Strategists的创始人兼首席顾问，他写了一本名为《夹心饼干：X一代的人才管理观》（Stuck in the Middle: A Generation X View of Talent Management ），阐述了一些现实世界中提升职业生涯的技巧。

    这些经验一部分是基于他本人的经验。几年前，他在近40岁时加盟康卡斯特（Comcast），出任副总裁。“在这之前的10年，我一直在打造我的简历，获得研究生学位，努力成为最完美的候选人。我曾想过40岁时成为副总裁，结果提前实现了这个目标，”他说。“然后我开始留心观察，认真盘算。”

    Dear Annie: I hope this doesn't sound whiny, given the real economic hardships faced by people who don't have jobs at all, but I am so frustrated I could scream. I joined my current employer eight years ago, at age 27, with a fantastic track record as a salesperson, and did so well in my first two years here that I was promoted into middle management (regional sales manager, in charge of a 300-person team in 12 states).

    And here I sit. Even though I've increased my group's revenues by double digits for each of the past five years (despite the recession) and all my performance reviews have been great, I don't expect to be promoted again anytime soon, if ever. Why not? Because my boss is only about 50 and she's probably never leaving; and her boss is 59 and has said many times that he's not retiring until he's 70. So I seem to have two choices: Quit a company I really like working for, in order to move up somewhere else; or just accept the fact that there's no room at the top and stick it out here. Your thoughts, please? — Just Marking Time

    Dear J.M.T.: Ah. You, my friend, have run smack into what is sometimes called in HR circles the "gray ceiling" -- a vast crowd of Baby Boomers who are occupying millions of plum senior-level jobs. Almost 80 million strong, this generation was supposed to be retiring in droves right about now, opening up lots of opportunities for Gen X up-and-comers like yourself.

    Unfortunately for you (and the roughly 50 million other Gen Xers in the U.S.), that isn't happening. Blame the recession, at least in part: The downturn, including the collapse of real estate values, rocked Boomers' sense of financial security, causing some to delay retirement for at least a few more years and others to put it off indefinitely.

    The main problem with the Boomers, though, is that there are just so darn many of them; and they had a head start over you, nabbing all those corner offices while you were still earning your stripes. As if that weren't enough to clog the pathways to corporate advancement, their children (Gen Y, or the "echo Baby Boom") are nipping at Gen Xers' heels as well. Even if your 50-year-old boss did decide to take a juicy job offer elsewhere, how do you know some tech-savvy 29-year-old hotshot wouldn't leapfrog over you into her position? It's been known to happen.

    Curtis Odom feels your pain. Founder and chief of Boston-based consulting firm Prescient Talent Strategists, he wrote a book called Stuck in the Middle: A Generation X View of Talent Management that spells out some real-world tactics for moving your career forward.

    It's based partly on his own experience. A couple of years ago, in his late 30s, Odom joined Comcast (CMCSA) as a vice president. "I had spent the previous 10 years building a resume, getting graduate degrees, and working hard at being the perfect candidate. I wanted to be a v.p. by age 40, and I got there early," he says. "Then I looked around and did the math."