A Piece of Work

By: James O'Toole and Edward E. Lawler IIIWed Dec 19, 2007 at 8:10 AM

Three decades after the groundbreaking book Work in America, its authors tell us how things really turned out.

In 1973, a book appeared that would define the conversation about the American workplace for the next generation. Work in America was an unlikely hit, the report of a task force commissioned by Elliot L. Richardson, President Nixon's secretary of health, education, and welfare. It was a rather academic assessment, rooted in research papers and scientific surveys. But the findings were explosive: They described "the alienation and disenchantment of blue-collar workers," "the search by women for a new identity," and "the quest of the aged for a respected and useful social role."

The chairman of that task force was James O'Toole, then a young special assistant to Richardson; Edward E. Lawler III was part of a University of Michigan research team that produced the report's key data. Now, 33 years later, O'Toole and Lawler--both at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California--have prepared a sequel using the same methods: The New American Workplace (Palgrave-Macmillan, July).

The New American Workplace is, in a way, an optimistic updating--not least because work actually has, for many people, become more fulfilling and democratic in the manner Work in America prescribed. But it also reckons with technological forces and a global economy that are radically and rapidly disrupting business organizations. "Our general conclusion," the authors write, "is that, in far too many instances, the United States is attempting to implement tomorrow's competitive strategies with yesterday's managerial ideas and public policy infrastructure."

We asked O'Toole and Lawler to revisit Work in America in the context of their more recent work. Their assessments follow excerpts from the original book.

On Job Satisfaction

"Significant numbers of American workers are dissatisfied with the quality of their working lives. Dull, repetitive, seemingly meaningless tasks offering little challenge or autonomy are causing discontent among workers at all occupational levels."

Good news here: Surveys show American workers are more satisfied with their jobs today than they were in the 1970s. Much to our surprise, Americans also report higher satisfaction with their work than they do with other aspects of their lives. Have jobs become better or have personal relationships gotten worse?

On Self-Employment

"Our economic, political, and cultural system has fostered the notion of independence and autonomy, a part of which is the belief that a hardworking person… can always make a go of it in business for himself. This element of the American dream is rapidly becoming myth…. The trend of the past 70 years or more… has been a decrease in small, independent enterprises and self-employment, and an increase in the domination of large corporations and government in the workforce."

Thank goodness that trend reversed itself: In 2002, the Census Bureau reported that 17.6 million Americans worked for, and by, themselves. When enterprising Americans are laid off by corporations, they increasingly become independent consultants, contractors, landscape gardeners, and computer coaches. If it hadn't been for the growth in self-employment during the prolonged 2001-2003 recession and accompanying downsizing, the nation's unemployment rate would have been really alarming.

Indeed, it appears that working alone in homes, cars, hotel rooms, libraries, Wi-Fi cafés, Starbucks, and FedEx Kinko's is gradually replacing working with others in traditional offices, factories, and stores. We find that one of the major sources of societal discontent is the loss of the "community" that was once found in traditional workplaces. While freedom is a good thing, it is hard to put a happy face on the increasing social isolation of the American worker.

On Women At Work

"What is the quality of working life for women in the labor force? The job of secretary is perhaps symbolic of the status of female employment in this country, both qualitatively and quantitatively. There are 9 million secretaries, and they compose nearly one-third of the nation's female workforce. Judy Klemesrud has written that the secretary is often stereotyped as a 'gum-chewing sex kitten; husband hunter; miniskirted ding-a-ling; slow-witted pencil pusher; office gofer; reliable old shoe.' Certainly, many secretaries have very poor jobs by the accepted standards of job satisfaction."

Here is an area of clear progress: The government does not even keep statistics on "secretaries" anymore, and the great majority of women are no longer trapped in low-paying "women's jobs" as they were in the past. The gender wage gap has closed remarkably--particularly as women are now more likely than men to attend college and thus, get better jobs.