Measures to directly create jobs have begun to occupy an important position in American economic policies. Most of these measures involve direct public service programs and employment subsidies. This paper explores the reasons for the emergence of such programs and notes that the economic rationale for these measures suggests a substantial…

Labor supports full employment as a goal of national policy because workers' security is connected to the general health of the economy and the society. To lay the groundwork for achieving that goal, the following are discussed: (1) causes of unemployment; and (2) the mechanism for achieving full employment. (PS)

This article addresses the increase in voluntary reduced work time arrangements that have developed in the United States in response to growing interest in alternatives to the standardized approach to scheduling. Permanent part-time employment, job sharing, and voluntary reduced work time plans are defined, described and, to a limited extent,…

This article examines some of the indicators that have been used to assess job commitment: statistical series on absence from work; quits; working part time by choice (phenomena generally associated with weak commitment); and multiple job-holding and overtime (often associated with strong commitment). (SSH)

Work in America Institute, a nonprofit organization, contends that many changes are necessary to extend the working life of older workers. Forty-five recommendations are made for employers and government to ready the American workplace for an aging workforce. (Author/MLF)

The net effect on employment of structural changes now occurring in the United States will be determined by the actions that government, management, and labor take to create and support the conditions for new opportunity and to encourage people to move from old to new work. Many of the measures that need to be taken to ensure profitability involve…

This series of articles presents a variety of studies related to employment opportunities for the disabled, stimulating economy and employment, and new job creation. These studies are related to both developed and developing countries and are also concerned with the international division of labor. (SSH)

The United States has never had a consistent, unified work force development system. Instead, because of citizens' preference for decentralized government, most efforts at work force development have been sporadic and localized. From the 1960s until the early 1990s, Congress enacted between 125 and 175 narrowly-focused categorical employment…

The traditional systems used to produce goods and services in this country are being challenged by evolving alternatives. The focus of these new alternatives is on the human element in the work force. Studies in adult work attitudes indicate that a more humanistic system is needed to promote productivity. Inherent in the human condition is the…