The Changing Structure of Work in the United States: Implications for Health and Welfare,Part 2

Kuhn Sarah and Wooding John , “The Changing Structure of Work in the United States: The Implications for Health and Welfare — Part I,” New Solutions, Vol. 4, No. 3, Winter, 1995.

See for example Bright (1958), Woodward (1965), Bell (1973), Braverman (1974), Gallie (1978), and Hirschhorn (1984).

A major survey on workplace stress, conducted by 9 to 5, the National Association of Working Women, found that two-thirds of respondents who worked with automated equipment reported that it made their job more interesting and enjoyable than before (while 9 percent said it made their jobs more boring and monotonous). A slight majority (54 percent) said that their work was easier and less stressful than before automation (9 to 5, 1984). The findings of the US Office of Technology Assessment, consistent with this, are that automation can either increase or decrease workload, depending on a host of factors (1985).

The US Office of Technology Assessment (1987) identifies three types of electronic monitoring of office activities: • Computer-based monitoring: The use of a computer to automatically record data about the work activity, such as number of keystrokes, time per transaction, and nature of transactions. • Service observation: Supervisors listen electronically to employee interaction with customers. New technology allows this to be done completely silently, without the knowledge of the worker or customer. • Telephone call accounting: Records origin, destination, and length of telephone calls. This is generally used for reducing telephone costs, sometimes by limiting or prohibiting personal calls.

See the discussion by Quinn Margaret and Buiatti Eva , “Women Changing the Times,” New Solutions, Vol. 1, No. 3.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1993.

See the ideas suggested by Richard Grossman in this journal: Grossman Richard and Adams Frank T. , “Taking Care of Business: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation,” New Solutions, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 7–18.

For a discussion of the ethical dimension of the health care system and the link between unfairness and income inequality, see Dworkin Ronald , “Will Clinton's Plan Be Fair?” New York Review of Books, Jan. 13, 1995 (Vol. 41, Nos. 1 and 2), p. 20.

Appelbaum Eileen ; and Gregory Judith . “Union Responses to Contingent Work: Are Win-Win Outcomes Possible?” In Flexible Workstyles: A Look at Contingent Labor. Women's Bureau, US Department of Labor, 1988.

Attewell Paul . “Big Brother and the Sweatshop: Computer Surveillance in the Automated Office.” Sociological Theory 5, Spring 1987: Pp. 87–99.

Bell Daniel . The Coming of Postindustrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting. New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc., 1973.

Braverman Harry , Labor and Monopoly Capital, New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974.

Bright James R. “Does Automation Raise Skill Requirements?” Harvard Business Review 36: 4, July/August 1958.

Business Week. “An Invisible Workplace Hazard Gets Harder to Ignore.” Jan. 30, 1989.

Christopherson Susan ; and Noyelle Thierry . “The Contingent Worker: New Employment and Benefit Options for the Year 2000.” Quarterly Report, Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia University, October 1988.

de Kadt Maarten . “Insurance: A Clerical Work Factory.” In Case Studies on the Labor Process. Edited by Zimbalist Andrew New York, NY: Monthly Review Press, 1979.

Gallie Duncan . In Search of the New Working Class: Automation and Social Integration Within the Capitalist Enterprise. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1978.

Gershuny Jonathan ; and Miles Ian . The New Service Economy: The Transformation of Employment in Industrial Societies. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1983.

Green James ; and Tilly Chris . “Service Unionism: Directions for Organizing.” Labor Law Journal, August 1987: Pp. 486–495.

Greenbaum Joan Pullman Sydney , and Szymanski Sharon . Effects of Office Automation on the Public Sector Workforce: Case Study. US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, contractor report, April 1985.

Grossman Richard and Adams Frank T. , “Taking Care of Business: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation,” New Solutions, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp 7–18.

Hartmann Heidi I. Kraut Robert E. , and Tilly Louise A. . Computer Chips and Paper Clips: Technology and Women's Employment. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1986.

Hirschhorn Larry . Beyond Mechanization: Work and Technology in a Postindustrial Age. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1984.

Karasek Robert Theorell T. . Healthy Work. New York: Basic Books, 1990.

Kelly Henry ; and Wyckoff Andrew . “Distorted Image: How Government Statistics Misrepresent the Economy.” Technology Review, February/March 1989: Pp. 52–60.

Nine to Five (9 to 5), National Association of Working Women. The 9 to 5 National Survey on Women and Stress. Cleveland, OH: National Association of Working Women, 1984.

Nine to Five (9 to 5), National Association of Working Women. Hidden Victims: Clerical Workers, Automation, and the Changing Economy. Cleveland, OH: National Association of Working Women, 1985.

Schor Juliet , The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure, New York: Basic Books, 1991.

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. The Electronic Supervisor: New Technology, New Tensions. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1987.

US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. Automation of America's Offices. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, December 1985.

Woodward Joan . Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice. London, 1965.

Wren Robert , “The Decline of American Labor,” Socialist Review, Vol. 15, Nos. 4 & 5, 1985, pp. 89–101.