ABSTRACT
The U.S. labor force needs a new social contract at work. Globalization and new technology have changed the structure of work in the United States. Two groups—young people and manufacturing workers—have been especially hard hit by these trends. Although the past three decades have been characterized by rapid change that has created a poor match between federal labor laws and the experience of much of the labor force, evidence from our research and our three decades of experience shows that workers can take steps to move forward in their careers and, in the process, help construct a new set of norms and practices in the American workplace. This chapter describes the impact of globalization and new technology on the U.S. workforce and introduces the list of actions that workers can take to build careers in the new economy.
