ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the evidence for the kinds of changes in employment, and then provides a quick summary of the research which attempts to tie the changes together into a comprehensive view of the emerging labor market. Labor market analysts frequently divide into those focused on changes in the quantity of work, those focused on changes in the distribution of occupations and industries, and those focused on the nature of the employment contract across sectors of the economy. In addition to the foregoing changes within workplaces, firms are increasingly maintaining a smaller core of workers hired on a permanent basis. Overall, a greater proportion of the working age population is employed, the average worker is putting in more hours per year, and fewer are working a standard full-time work week. Instead, firms bring in workers to do specific projects, often hiring them as independent contractors rather than as employees.
