An older brain might be more accurate, more thoughtful, more social and better able to use more of its parts: It just works in different and creative ways to compensate.

Fluff the pillows and stock the fridge because, chances are, your adult kids are coming home. Nearly one-third of Americans age 25 to 34 have lived with their parents in recent years, according to a 2011 study by Pew Research Center. But before you start blaming a generation of millennials — known for their unearned trophies and sense of entitlement — remember it’s the generations past who wrought an economy with tuition hikes and growing unemployment.

John O’Malley is the recruiting partner at Sacramento’s largest law firm, Downey Brand, which was founded nearly a century ago and employs more than 120 lawyers in five regional offices, 103 of them in Sacramento.

Small-company advancement is on the rise, and more local businesses are seeking innovative leadership training that can help catapult their companies into a source of industrial growth.

Joining the 1 percent really isn’t that difficult.

Senior associate Tracy Steffens starts getting urgent emails from East Coast clients as early as 6 a.m., just around the time her two-year-old daughter raps on the shower door to expel mommy from her morning rinse.

While much of the local and national talk around pension reform is directed at public employees, the biggest current changes are occurring in the private sector.

Kate Renwick-Espinosa was weeks into a four-month maternity leave from VSP Vision Care when her boss called and asked to stop by.

Northern California’s economy hasn’t edged far enough into recovery to encourage strong hiring. The bouncing stock market, shaky European economies and an upcoming presidential election have many managers wondering what kind of business climate they’ll be dealing with a year from now.

“We intend — on our own as the majority party — to do all that we can to put people back to work.”  So says Senate Majority Leader Darrell Steinberg. Well, that certainly is good news.

Kevin Manzer gave up being a cop to clean carpets.

Blair Sapeta isn’t setting aside money for her retirement. She’s just 31 years old and has more immediate financial concerns.

Looking back, it’s easy to see how some local government pension plans wound up underfunded. As described in last month’s issue, much of the blame goes to generous legislation passed during California’s boom cycles.

Today, there are more than 8 million women-owned businesses in America, generating nearly $1.3 trillion in annual revenue. Women continue to launch enterprises at a faster rate than the national average, according to the latest Census data. In fact, women have been launching and growing businesses faster than men for the past two decades.

It’s the middle of the night, and the whole world is sleeping — except for the nearly 24 million Americans who are working the night shift.

For decades America has been steadily approaching a major social development — a time when the number of women in the work force would surpass the number of men. That moment has now arrived, brought on by, of all things, a recession.

California will need close to a million new medical assistants, lab techs, respiratory therapists and other skilled health workers in the next 20 years in addition to new doctors and nurses, a recent study estimates. But the state doesn’t have enough educational capacity to train them all.

Tasked with finding matches for the highest-ranking positions in business, executive recruiters rely on their networks to find candidates. With websites such as Facebook and Twitter linking personal and professional worlds, it seems like a natural move to forgo the phone tree in favor of web connections.

Markus Bokisch has grown into the kind of man who doesn’t mind having his wife in his business. But it didn’t happen overnight.

For decades, the contours of the Capital Region economy seemed etched in stone. Government, manufacturing and construction employed the bulk of the population. After the boom and bust of the past decade, however, the job profile of the future could be almost unrecognizable.