The future of low-wage jobs is examined through a case study of firm restructuring in the retail industry. The study confirms that the retailing sector has come to be dominated by the Wal-Mart model, which emphasizes an efficient technology-driven inventory management system and a human resource approach that includes the following elements:…

The business press abounds with examples of innovative companies that have created high-quality jobs; however, low-wage, deskilled jobs filled by contingent workers are equally prevalent. More than one in six U.S. workers currently hold retail jobs. The effect of globalization of trade on the retail industry is unclear. The most significant…

One of the most pressing questions facing researchers and policy makers today is how economic restructuring has affected the nature of work and mobility in the United States. Emerging research has begun to focus on analyses of longitudinal datasets, taking up such questions as whether wage growth has deteriorated and whether the rate of job…

A study was conducted to determine the long-term consequences of restructuring on the nature of work and mobility in the United States. The study compared the first 16 years of work experience for two cohorts of young white men from the National Longitudinal Surveys: the original cohort, followed from 1996-1981, and the recent cohort, followed…