Reviews the role and the accomplishments of the United States Department of Labor in its 75 years of existence. Describes the department's establishment during an era of heavy union activity. Discusses changes in demographics of the labor force, conditions and standards, the work experience, and job placement. (CH)

Economic factors serve to control the degree to which individual and work-related factors can explain variation in turnover. Individual and work-related variables will be more predictive of turnover under prosperous economic conditions than when the economy is strained. (Author)

Includes five articles: "Introduction"; "Workplace Trends"; "Challenge of Change"; "The Choice"; and "Techniques of 'New Work' Places." Reports that many new jobs are being created in services and trades; "new work" accommodates global trends; workplaces choose to succeed or fail in the new environment; and successful techniques involve trends,…

Trends shaping the workplace are increased skill requirements; more educated, diverse work force; continued corporate restructuring; change in size and composition of training departments; instructional technology advances; new training delivery methods; focus on performance improvement; integrated high-performance work systems; companies becoming…

Changes in the American work force include more workers, especially women; racial and ethnic composition of the work force; lengthening work lives; decline in union representation; workers' attitudes toward labor and leisure; expansion of a service economy; and projected demand for blue-collar occupations. The effect of these changes on…