ABSTRACT
As we begin the 21st century, it is arguable whether there has ever been so much disagreement about the nature of work and how it should be organized, to say nothing of debate about a future when large sections of the population may have no paid work at all (e.g., Wilpert, 1997). The optimists, mainly in the USA but including Charles Handy (1995) in the UK, see work undergoing a revolution to which people will adapt, becoming multiskilled, resilient, and self-sufficient as they manage portfolio careers. The pessimists, mainly centred in Europe (e.g., Frese, 1997), but including Herriot and Pemberton (1995) in the UK, are not so sanguine. They perceive a workforce under increasing strain where two people in employment now do the work previously done by three, where the UK is generally agreed to have the longest working hours in Europe, feelings of job insecurity are rife, and organizational commitment is severely threatened. Meanwhile millions are in enforced idleness and poverty, and some commentators (e.g., Wilpert, 1997) predict increasing social unrest and societal breakdown.
