|U.S. Department of Labor | Futurework                                                                 
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|                         | Trends and Challenges for
                         Work in the 21st Century
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futurework - Trends and Challenges for Work in
                the 21st Century (A printed copy of the report
                may be requested by telephone at 202-219-6001 ext.123) Table of
                Contents

Letter from the Secretary of Labor [PDF Version]

executive summary [PDF
                Version]

introduction [PDF
                Version]

1 the workforce [PDF Version]

- The U.S. population is
                  becoming larger and more diverse
- The changing face of the
                  workforce
- Educational attainment is
                  rising
- Women are working more; men
                  are working less
- From welfare to work
- Workers with disabilities are
                  an underutilized resource
- Veterans enrich the civilian
                  workforce
- Young people are already a
                  substantial part of the labor force
- The future

2 employment, wages, and benefits[PDF Version]

- Employment has been growing
                  robustly
- Growth is resuming for
                  stagnant wages and benefits
- Wage inequality: Will the rich
                  get richer and the poor, poorer?
- What the Fastest growing jobs
                  require
- Factors driving high- and
                  low-skilled workers-wages farther apart
- Pay gaps persist between
                  groups
- The future

3 work and family [PDF Version]

- Six in ten women are in the
                  labor force
- More parents in the
                  workforce
- Working mothers
- Single parents
- Many workers have
                  responsibility for an elderly person or one with a disability
- Workers need options for child
                  and elder care
- Nonstandard hours
- Employer-provided
                  assistance
- Working families have
                  shrinking time
- Flexibility on the
                  job
- The future

4 workplaces [PDF Version]

- What work will need doing?
- The workforce becomes
                  increasingly urban
- Employment shifts from
                  manufacturing to services
- Growth in service
                  jobs
- The virtual market will have
                  major influence
- Who will belong to
                  unions?
- Crossing trend lines and their
                  causes
- New efforts reverse earlier
                  decline
- Unions benefit workers-and
                  employers
- The future

5 workplace conditions
                [PDF
                Version]

- Mines, factories, and other
                  workplaces have become safer
- Dramatic reductions in
                  work-related fatalities
- Risks vary with industry and
                  workplace size
- Changes in work and work
                  practices bring new risks
- Societal problems have become
                  workplace problems
- Discrimination, though
                  diminishing, persists
- Personal health is becoming a
                  workplace issue
- The future

6 technology and globalization [PDF Version]

- Technology is transforming the
                  US economy
- The information technology
                  industry is evolving rapidly
- The technological revolution
                  spreads
- Technology and job creation
- Technology is revolutionizing
                  the way we work
- Changing relationships,
                  changing risk, changing regulation
- Better, faster, more
                  accessible information
- Crossing the border:
                  Globalization of the American economy
- Labor market effects of
                  globalization
- Core labor standards
- The future

7 implications of workplace changes [PDF Version]

- Employers are demanding higher
                  skills
- The changing skill content of
                  jobs
- Post-school training
- Basic skills are not so basic
                  anymore
- Work reforms can increase
                  productivity and reshape workplaces
- Increasing the employee stake
                  in company performance
- Nontraditional workers are an
                  important part of the workforce
- Nontraditional work
                  arrangements
- Employer use of
                  nontraditional staffing
- Attributes of nontraditional
                  work
- The future of the
                  nontraditional
- Downsizing and insecurity:
                  Mixed evidence on magnitudes
- job turnover: Mixed evidence
                  for the 1980s, some shift up in the 1990s
- The future

8 framing the debate for policy and decisionmakers
                of the twenty-first century [PDF
                Version]

- Taking stock at century's
                  end
- What are workers'
                  needs?
- Trends affecting future
                  work
- Questions for the future
- On acheiving economic security
- On balancing work and
                  family
- On destiny and diversity
- The future

appendices

- 1 Back to the future-Past efforts
                  at viewing the future by the Department of Labor [PDF Version]
- 2 Glossary [PDF Version]

endnotes[PDF
                Version]

tables

- 1.1 Work experience of
                  the population, by extent of employment, 1997
- 3.1 Average weekly hours
                  worked by men and women, ages 25 to 54, 1969-1998
- 5.1 Percent of employers
                  who use drug testing, 1990-1998
- 5.2 Percentage of workers
                  ages 18 to 49 reporting heavy alcohol use, 1985-1997
- 5.3 Percentage of workers
                  ages 18 to 49 reporting current illicit drug use, 1985-1997
- 6.1 US trade flows
- 6.2 Five industries in
                  which exports account for a high percent of employment, 1998
- 7.1 Employment by major
                  occupational groups 1986, 1996 and projected 2006
- 7.2 Percent of employers
                  responding about change in the use of non-traditional workers since 1990
- 7.3 Percent of workers
                  with health insurance and pension coverage by work arrangement, 1997

charts

- 1.1 Percent distribution
                  of the population by race and Hispanic origin, 1995 and 2050
- 1.2 Percent of
                  high-school graduates enrolling in college, 1993-1998
- 1.3 Labor force activity
                  rate of persons 20 to 64 years old, by education level and disability status,
                  1994
- 2.1 Average hourly
                  earnings, 1947-1998
- 2.2 Average weekly
                  earnings by educational attainment level, 1979-1998
- 2.3 Weekly earnings
                  ratios-90/10, 1979-1998
- 2.4 Weekly earnings
                  ratios-90/50 and 50/10, 1979-98
- 3.1 Women as a growing
                  percentage of the workforce, 1948-1998
- 3.2 More women are
                  working: labor force participation rates, 1948-1998
- 3.3 Proportion of mothers
                  in the workforce, by age of child, 1975 and 1998
- 3.4 Percent of married
                  couples in which both spouses work more than 40 hours per week, 1969 and 98
- 7.1 Percent of employed
                  persons with alternative and traditional work arrangements, 1997

boxes

- 1.1 Moving people from
                  welfare to work
- 1.2 Did you know that
                  workers with disabilities
- 1.3 Postsecondary
                  education and other training
- 1.4 Investing in our
                  future
- 2.1 Changing healthcare
                  benefits
- 2.2 Changing private
                  pensions
- 2.3 The wage gap
- 2.4 Who are the working
                  poor?
- 3.1 How long is a mother's
                  workday?
- 3.2 The work-and-family
                  balancing act
- 3.3 The stress box
- 4.1 American small
                  businesses
- 4.2 Buying time
- 4.3 Women in business
- 4.4 The office of the
                  future
- 4.5 Evolution of retail
- 5.1 elaws
- 5.2 Cooperation: A new kind
                  of enforcement
- 6.1 Computer power
- 6.2 "Web"ster's Dictionary
                  for the twenty-first century
- 6.3 Jobs of yesterday and
                  tomorrow
- 6.4 Veterans lead the
                  way
- 6.5 Going to the office is
                  not what it used to be
- 6.6 Workplace technology
                  for people with disabilities
- 6.7 Ergonomics and the
                  workplace
- 6.8 Creating a virtual
                  electronic labor market-America's Career Kit
- 7.1 America's jobs
                  Network
- 7.2 Look who's temping
                  now
- 7.3 Who are displaced
                  workers?

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