Research Catalog

Title

The disposable work force : worker displacement and employment instability in America / Thomas S. Moore.

Author

Moore, Thomas S., 1945-

Publication

New York, NY : Aldine de Gruyter, [1996], ©1996.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xxi, 145 pages; 24 cm.

Summary

• Drawing upon a case study of a plant closing in Wisconsin and the results of national labor force surveys showing the displacement of millions of workers each year, this book examines the consequences of the rise in economic instability. Among those consequences are a productivity slowdown, increased disparities in earnings and income, and higher average unemployment.
• Moore assesses the extent of job loss nationwide, its costs to the individuals directly affected, and the way in which the incidence of displacement and earnings loss has shifted over the past decade, affecting groups long sheltered from labor market turbulence.
• To reverse these trends, the book argues, we need an employment and training system that will give employers an incentive to invest in the skills of their employees. Federally funded training programs have not improved the earnings ability of displaced and disadvantaged workers, and state-sponsored programs tend to exclude those most in need of assistance. Moore suggests direct employer investment in the general skills of employees as a remedy to both failings.

Series Statement

Social institutions and social change

Uniform Title

Social institutions and social change.

Subjects

• Unemployment > United States
• United States > Economic conditions > 1981-2001
• Work sharing > United States
• Full employment policies > United States
• Part-time employment > United States
• Displaced workers > United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

1. Anatomy of a Plant Closing -- 2. The Magnitude and Costs of Worker Displacement -- 3. Long-Term Joblessness and Labor Market Disadvantage -- 4. Productivity and Competitiveness -- 5. Slower Growth and Earnings Inequality -- 6. Worker Displacement and Contemporary Unemployment -- 7. The Case for Worker Training -- 8. Work Sharing and Job Security.

ISBN

• 0202305198 (alk. paper)
• 0202305201 (pbk.)

LCCN

95021943

OCLC

• 32746028
• ocm32746028

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries