They were designed to support a more stable workforce. Workers often lose out when they have to change jobs, and defined benefit plans require employees to take a hit even if they get a new job immediately. Less than half the employees of temporary help firms, according to Osterman, are covered. Osterman recommends portable, affordable benefits and improved unemployment insurance to update the safety net for an increasingly mobile workforce. Job training and retraining must be better linked with clear job paths and with employers.
Today is no exception.
Contrary to assumption, a surprising amount of energy is focused on workers' issues. Osterman observes important developments in the reworking of the old rules and structure. Labor unions, after decades of decline, have won important victories recently that reflect broad public support for a strengthened workers' voice in company matters. The big question is whether we can bring the new energy and ideas to bear in the good times we now enjoy or whether they will be held off until the next economic crisis. If we wait, the adjustment could be far more wrenching for both sides.