Division of labor in hospitals has undergone task reunification, promoted as professional upgrading for nurses. However, this contradicts theories of professionalization and intensifies nurses' workload. At the same time, flattening of the nursing hierarchy increases their accountability. (Author/SK)

To define and measure the emergence and existence of an occupation, occupational program consultant, the authors empirically tested its existence by comparing job roles of persons who trained in social work to those trained in business administration. A high degree of similarity was found, suggesting a new occupation. (Author/JOW)

Such innovations as employee stock ownership plans, profit sharing, labor-management committees, quality circles, and work redesign appear to be more popular now than in the past. Research on the impact of these programs suggests that they have negligible or short-lived effects. (JOW)

Deskilling of commercial and technical occupations in West Germany during the 1960s and 1970s was apparently a short-lived phenomenon. Since the 1970s, employers have adopted a skill-based modernization policy. Skilled administrative workers have used their qualifications as a means of influencing the process of work redesign. (SK)

Study of five sets of work process variables and their relationship to role conflict and overload among public sector nurses and engineers found managerial strategies appropriate for minimizing role conflict not necessarily appropriate for minimizing role overload. Some work process predictors may be similar across professions, and managerial…

An optimistic scenario suggests that "leading edge" of women and minorities will be recruited for new and better jobs in future. Persistence of traditional labor force position of women and minorities characterizes the pessimistic scenario. Data on composition of growing and declining occupations suggest that latter is more likely. However,…

Technological innovations in factories and offices are examined in terms of 10 core issues: "high flex" workplace; control of work; organizational change; impact on skill; unemployment; educational needs and retraining; changing occupational structures; safety and health; interaction of work, leisure, and family; and quality of working life. The…