About 27.5 million Americans--nearly 24 percent of the labor force--earn less than $8.70 an hour, not enough to keep a family of four out of poverty, even working full-time year-round. Job ladders for these workers have been dismantled, limiting their ability to get ahead in today's labor market. Low-Wage America is the most extensive study to date of how the choices employers make in response to economic globalization, industry deregulation, and advances in information technology affect the lives of tens of millions of ...
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About 27.5 million Americans--nearly 24 percent of the labor force--earn less than $8.70 an hour, not enough to keep a family of four out of poverty, even working full-time year-round. Job ladders for these workers have been dismantled, limiting their ability to get ahead in today's labor market. Low-Wage America is the most extensive study to date of how the choices employers make in response to economic globalization, industry deregulation, and advances in information technology affect the lives of tens of millions of workers at the bottom of the wage distribution. Based on data from hundreds of establishments in twenty-five industries--including manufacturing, telecommunications, hospitality, and health care--the case studies document how firms' responses to economic restructuring often results in harsh working conditions, reduced benefits, and fewer opportunities for advancement. For instance, increased pressure for profits in newly consolidated hotel chains has led to cost-cutting strategies such as requiring maids to increase the number of rooms they clean by 50 percent. Technological changes in the organization of call centers--the ultimate "disposable workplace"--have led to monitoring of operators' work performance, and eroded job ladders. Other chapters show how the temporary staffing industry has provided paths to better work for some, but to dead end jobs for many others; how new technology has reorganized work in the back offices of banks, raising skill requirements for workers; and how increased competition from abroad has forced U.S. manufacturers to cut costs by reducing wages and speeding production. Although employers' responses to economic pressures have had a generally negative effect on frontline workers, some employers manage to resist this trend and still compete successfully. The benefits to workers of multi-employer training consortia and the continuing relevance of unions offer important clues about what public policy can do to support the job prospects of this vast, but largely overlooked segment of the American workforce. Low-Wage America challenges us to a national self-examination about the nature of low-wage work in this country and asks whether we are willing to tolerate the profound social and economic consequences entailed by these jobs. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Case Studies of Job Quality in Advanced Economies
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Second printing. Cloth with silver lettering to spine. xii, 535 pp. Index. A clean, attractive copy. From the library of Nevada Senator Harry Reid, with his bookplate. "Low-Wage America challenges us to a national self-examination about the nature of low-wage work in this country and asks whether we are willing to tolerate the profound social and economic consequences entailed by these jobs."
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Seller's Description:
Very good in very good dust jacket. Ex-library. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 535 p. Contains: Illustrations. Russell Sage Foundation Case Studies of Job Quality in Advan. Audience: General/trade. LCCN 2003046584 Type of material Book Main title Low-wage America: how employers are reshaping opportunity in the workplace / Eileen Appelbaum, Annette Bernhardt, and Richard J. Murnane, editors. Published/Created New York: Russell Sage, c2003. Description xii, 535 p. : ill.; 24 cm. ISBN 0871540258 LC classification HD5724. L44 2003 Related names Appelbaum, Eileen, 1940-Bernhardt, Annette D., 1964-Murnane, Richard J. LC Subjects Labor market--United States. Unskilled labor--United States. Semiskilled labor--United States. Manpower planning--United States. Work environment--United States. Industrial management--United States. Employment forecasting--United States. Notes Includes bibliographical references and index. Dewey class no. 331.7/98/0973 Geographic area code n-us---
