Reprinted from the Fall 1968 issue of "Daedalus.

Braverman and others argue that capitalism continues to degrade and deskill work. The author presents theoretical, empirical, and methodological criticisms that highlight methodological weaknesses in the deskilling approach. (SK)

The purpose of the Washington metropolitan area classified employment advertising research project was to determine the number of jobs actually available to the poor on unskilled out of the total job openings as advertised in the want ads in the newspapers. (DS)

A scale, developed to measure an individual's attitude toward work and the relationship between length of unemployment time and work attitudes, was administered to subjects who were: (1) employed workers--in unskilled, semi-skilled, and occasionally skilled jobs; (2) unemployed but actually seeking employment; (3) chronically unemployed. The scale…

Deals with a program to train poor people for jobs in supermarkets and the reasons why it failed. (EK)

The Ford factory in Cologne, Germany, uses a variety of flexible learning methods to enable unskilled and semiskilled workers to acquire vocational qualifications. Methods include tutorials, simulations, micro worlds, and hypermedia databases. (SK)

This study compares the prevalence and causes of employment hardship between Mexican-origin and White women. Data come from the March 1992, 1996, and 2000 Current Population Surveys. Using logistic regression, the author assesses whether there is a difference between Mexican-origin and White women in employment hardship, controlling for personal…

While employment growth has accelerated, allowing unemployment to fall significantly since 2005, many low-skilled workers are still unemployed and the duration of unemployment spells is still long. The introduction of an in-work benefit for workers in low-income households, subject to a minimum of hours worked, could lower barriers to higher…

A study of the information world of custodial workers at a large university in the South revealed: (1) information needs in the areas of health, career opportunities, and interpersonal relationships; (2) little information exchange among workers; and (3) little use of the public library. The interview schedule is appended. (51 references) (MES)

Empirical analysis of 26 Canadian strikes finds strikes profitable, Industries

Changes in the nature of unskilled work are reinforcing barriers to workers' access to training and increasing requirements for training and development. Until individual and structural barriers to work-based learning are eliminated, policies stressing individual responsibility for learning will only reinforce inequalities. (Contains 40…

Three articles debate the findings of a study: "Low-Skilled People on the European Labor Market: Towards a Minimum Learning Platform?" (Ottersen, Steedman); "The Concept of a Minimum Learning Platform Educational Contents and Methods for Improving the Low-Skilled" (Schneeberger); and "Achieving a Minimum Learning Platform…

As ESL/EFL teachers, how do we fit into the spectrum between unskilled workers and highly trained professionals? This article examines three features of the traditional professions and applies them to the ESL/EFL context. It considers problems with the lack of mandatory standardized certification, critically assesses attachment to the university,…