Introduction

Abstract

Abstract America is reinventing how it works. Battered by international competition from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s and chastened by lagging productivity, American firms invested heavily in new technology; experimented widely with workplace innovations such as self-managed work teams; climbed on the quality bandwagon, making Total Quality Management and customer satisfaction the new mantra; reengineered the structure of the corporation; and divested themselves of both businesses and employees that were not seen as “core.” The result is that for nearly every group of employees the terms and conditions of employment have changed, in many cases quite dramatically. Whether these changes are on balance good or bad is by no means clear. For many workers, jobs require more diverse activities with more responsibility, the demand for skills is rising, and the rate of job creation has itself been impressive. Offsetting this are stagnating incomes for most Americans and insecurity even in the face of declining unemployment rates.