Development economists have considered physical infrastructure to be a precondition for industrialization and economic development. Infrastructure investments play a particularly important role in expanding overall employment opportunities either directly by absorbing workers or indirectly by crowding in private investments, technology adoption,…

Over the past century, the United States workforce has undergone a massive structural shift. Technological change has moved the economy toward skilled labor and away from unskilled labor--a phenomenon known as skill-biased technical change. This structural shift has increased the relative demand for educated and skilled labor, leading to…

This appendix documents the methodology used by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce to project educational demand within the US economy. The methodology produces forecasts using data from two private analytics companies. The authors use occupational forecasts provided by Lightcast that are calibrated to total employment…

The staggering highs and lows of the recent US economy and their effect on the labor force has been deeply unsettling. The US has come through the COVID-19 recession, the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, followed by the quickest recovery ever. One trend in the workforce has remained unaltered throughout this historic change:…

This report projects education requirements linked to forecasted job growth for all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2021 through 2031. It complements a larger national report that projects education demand by occupation and industry for the same period. The national report finds that by 2031, 72 percent of all jobs nationally will…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to show the foundational place that communication theory and its practice occupies in functioning work systems. Design/methodology/approach: This paper defines the word communication in terms of the creation and interpretation of displays, describes what it means to have a theoretical foundation for a…

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is the U.S. Government's crosscutting program that coordinates Federal research and development (R&D) activities in nanoscale science, engineering, technology, and related efforts among various participating agencies. The Federal Government launched the NNI in FY 2001 with an initial $500 million…

Suggests that governments, employers, and trade unions develop structural employment policies that, in conjunction with appropriate macro-economic policies, might lead to a more acceptable labor market outlook for the years ahead. Flexibility of the labor market, dimensions of change, and changing industrial structures are addressed. (JN)

Semiskilled and "unskilled" workers in semiconductors, computer manufacturing, and consumer electronics industries are more likely than other workers to lose jobs because of technology, imports, and offshore production. However, advances in technology do tend to create jobs for skilled workers. (CT)

This article deals with changes in secretarial jobs and implications for administrative services departments. It considers the impact of technology (elimination of jobs, upgrading of other jobs); opportunities for advancement; and predictions (severe shortage of secretaries, change in job descriptions, dependency on technology). (CT)

Suggest inclusion of social sciences courses in engineering curricula to provide technically trained persons with requisite skills in public service. (CC)

Discusses various aspects of new and emerging occupations: factors influencing these occupations (technological changes, demographic changes, legislation, life style changes, resource changes); and a process for identifying these new and emerging occupations (monitoring trends and collecting and processing data on these occupations). (CT)

This paper describes work in a Tanzanian village for the purpose of gaining a clearer view of work and the societal incentives for work in the United States. It is written for those who work, those who prepare others for work, those who teach and counsel about work, and those who advocate for consideration of worker needs in the design and…

This document explores the changing U.S. office, from its expansion in the 1830s due to the railroad industry to its dominance in the U.S. economy of the late 20th century. This examination of the office provides a way to study the U.S.' growth from the industrial revolution to the information age. Chapter 1 provides a brief historical overview of…

This document summarizes a conference organized around four broad topics: (1) skill and employment effects of new technologies; (2) health and safety effects; (3) strategies and tactics for improving labor-management relations; and (4) the role of public and private training and retraining programs. Four conference papers are included as follows:…