Work (if you can get it) and Occupations (if there are any)?: What Social Scientists can Learn from Predictions of the End of Work and Radical Workplace Change

Reviews books, recently published in the USA, which have prophesied the end of the traditional form of work, heralding the advent of flatter organizations; the growing use of temporary workers; the extensive use of subcontracting; major downsizing among the permanent workforce; the end of trade union recognition; and the development of virtual organizations. Analyses these predictions, finding some contradictions among them, but arguing that they point to significant and disturbing trends in the workplace. Assesses the implications for research into work and occupations, pointing out, among other things, that methods for collecting data will have to change, definitions of unemployment and under employment will become less clear cut, and that different workplace dynamics will have to be recognized.