Book Description

The typical American worker puts in nine weeks more on the job than his or her European counterpart. The costs of this overwork are enormous, both personally and societally. This bracing collection of essays is both a wide-ranging analysis of the phenomenon and a blueprint for change. With contributions by such notable names as Vicki Robin, author of Your Money or Your Life, and David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World, this book shows what ordinary citizens can do to restore balance to themselves and their communities. Take Back Your Time is the official handbook for Take Back Your Time Day, a national event rallying support for reclaiming a proper work-life balance. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

An eye-opening book
Wow! I am going to send a copy of this book to my team leader, as she hasn't figured out why she is always angry. It's because she is here until 9 every night, goes home to see her kids for about five minutes (who have "acted out" while she's been at work) and has to spend what little free time she has taking them to family therapists - who tell her she needs to achieve work/life balance, or, as she says, "whatever THAT is".

I would also like to give this to the productivity experts who say companies can do more with less. I'm sick of doing more with less and I am going to use this book as an inspiration to rebel. "No more 12 hour days" has become my mantra. Woe to those who try to test me on this!

So good I'm going to buy copies for my friends
Take Back Your Time is exceptionally clear in laying out the many ways in which we Americans suffer from not having enough time. Our lack of time to spend time with loved ones and friends, to help others, to be informed enough to vote, etc, is a direct result of choosing a way of life that emphasizes money and stuff over TIME. The book is a great read with numerous authors speaking to their particular knowledge on the subject of time poverty. I especially liked chapter 25 (It would be especially good for business too), which makes a compelling case that less time at work does not mean lower productivity.

excellent book
this is a book long past due. even better than affluenza.

Reading This Book May Change Your Life
Unlike many books of social criticism, this book describes how we can change our own lives and families, as we change our communities and country. The thirty essays cover a range of topics around the issue of 'time poverty.'

Particularly interesting to me were the essays on voluntary simplicity by Vicki Robin and Cecile Andrew. A common theme of several essays is how our role as consumers steals time that we could spend to enrich our lives, families, and communities. Too many of us commute to work to earn the money that we spend while shopping for things that then clutter our homes.

Federal legislation mandating minimum vacations and a shorter work week is unlikely (in the near term), but we can be more mindful of how our behavior as consumers sacrifices our time.

I'm looking forward to October 24, 2004 to celebrate the next Take Back Your Time Day.

A great compilation of essays on a crucial topic
With this book, John de Graaf provides an opportunity to sit down with talented writers and perceptive thinkers, and hear their views on one of society's most pressing problems - time poverty. As we race to produce more stuff - stuff that is poisoning our environment -we lose the time we need to take care of ourselves and our families, particularly those most in need of care, the very young, the very old, and even our pets. As this book shows, Americans' single-minded focus on production comes at the expense of other areas of life that desperately need our time and attention. Children growing up in institutionalized care, pets being dumped at shelters, citizens relinquishing their right to vote, obesity becoming epidemic as fast food replaces home cooking, landfills overflowing with the items we frenetically produce; the list goes on. In addition to viewing the problem from several interesting and diverse perspectives, the book includes essays on possible solutions and provides ways for readers to get involved. Everyone should find the time to read this important and engaging book. ... Read more

Book Description

Now doing to IT what the Japanese did to cars, India's rapid emergence as the West's back office, favorite location for white collar jobs and most recently as a hot medical center for Americans needing surgery(!) is shaking up the world.

From CBS's "60 Minutes" to the front cover of BusinessWeek, India is headline news. Not just another argument against exporting jobs to poor countries, Rising Elephant documents the surprising economic power of the world's largest democracy. Could India be the next empire? This is the early scoop on the balance of military and political power for this fast-moving phenomenon.

Ashutosh Sheshabalaya was born in India, educated in India and the US and lives in Europe. This is his first book.

Book Description

Economic Policy Institute

The State of Working America, prepared biennially since 1988 by the Economic Policy Institute, includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, taxes, unemployment, wealth, and poverty—data that enable the authors to closely examine the effect of the economy on the living standards of the American people. ... Read more

Book Description

"Imagine what would happen in a work environment if people were given the freedom to act the way they really wanted to act-with courage, creativity, and independence from fear of criticism, or worse. And, when people are respected and appreciated, they want to contribute even more, to rise to their true potential. I call that kind of place-a place where people act heroically-a Heroic Environment."

It may sound impossible, but it’s not. In A Journey Into the Heroic Environment, author Rob Lebow uses the simple story of two strangers meeting on a train journey to simply and comprehensively diagram the journey toward a new measure of transparency, communication and common focus in any work environment, regardless of size. Key to this vision is the concept of Shared Values, when individuals within an organization "agree to agree on what certain values mean to them personally." The openness, trust and respect that would follow would ensure greater job satisfaction and performance levels. The end result will be an increase in morale and productivity company-wide, and a clearer focus on the goals and outlook of your organization.

Already in its third edition, A Journey Into the Heroic Environment is a trusted and proven tool for providingsatisfaction in the workplace and increasing overall productivity. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Shows how anyone can influence an entire work environment
For twenty years Rob Lebow headed the Lebow Company in Bellevue, Washington, an organization dedicated to creating a people-based "operating system" as a new global standard for the work environment. In this newly revised and expanded third edition of A Journey Into The Heroic Moment: A Personal Guide To Creating A Work Environment Built On Shared Values, corporate mentor Rob Lebow shows how anyone from a line worker to a corporate CEO can influence and change the culture of an entire work environment. The key is in utilizing critical concepts (backed by academic research) that connect job satisfaction with performance. These concepts are what the author refers to as "shared values". Of special note is the new section on "Personal Workstyle Assessment". A Journey Into The Heroic Moment is wonderfully accessible reading and enthusiastically commended to the attention of anyone in a business environment, especially those charged with the responsibility for enhancing productivity and efficiency within the workforce.
... Read more

Book Description

This is a classic exploration of how labor markets are influenced by economic forces and the legal and institutional framework as well as an analysis of their interaction. Combining the strengths of early and later traditions of labor economics, this book makes use of both practical and theoretical recent literature as it illustrates how collective bargaining works and how it changes as the economic and legal environments also change. The eleventh edition of Labor Economics and Labor Relations has been revised to include new chapters on policies to combat labor-market discrimination, the Japanese and German systems of industrial relations, and internal labor markets, as well as a new half chapter on the increasing inequality in earnings. It also presents important new information on welfare reform, minimum wage legislation, unemployment insurance, education reform, and immigration. An essential reference book for any professional or tradesman seeking a deeper understanding of the relationship between labor and management.

Reviews (1)

Best text on labor economics and labor relations
The authors do a good job analyzing the labor market conditons, and cover in great detail labor relations, go into some comperative analysis of circumstances in different economic systems. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A regular feature in the Web zine Word is a column called "Work," conceived as an updated homage to Studs Terkel's 1972 book, Working. A selection of these Word columns, augmented with some new material, has been collected under another monosyllabic title, Gig. The slightly more effusive subtitle describes precisely what the book offers: Americans Talk About Their Jobs at the Turn of the Millennium. Word conducted interviews with and accepted submissions from a wide range of people with an equally wide range of jobs. The editors have organized the entries into rough thematic groups such as Plants and Animals (lawn maintenance man, buffalo rancher, dog trainer), Bodies and Souls (palm reader, orthopedic surgeon, telephone psychic), and Artists and Entertainers (video game designer, Elvis Presley "interpreter," art mover).

This is a casual book of over 120 brief first-person narratives. It is not a survey or an anthropological study, but a window onto how other people spend their days and nights. A few of the people are famous (supermodel Heidi Klum, painter Julian Schnabel), but most are not, and the latter are in some ways more interesting, not least because we already hear so much about the former in the welter of entertainment coverage that already graces our TVs and newsstands. The joy of Gig lies in its conversational tone and intimate peeks into occupations that many would never even know existed (who knew you could be a "clutter consultant"?). So, if you've ever wanted to ask the human resources director of a slaughterhouse how her day was, Gig is for you. --J.R. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

You think you hate your job?
Then you should read this book. Gig is an unexpectedly engaging collection of vignettes of diverse American workers. It makes you think long and hard about your job...as well as all those jobs that someone has to do, but that no one really wants to. (What does the garbage man really think about when he's riding the back of the truck?) My favorite profile: man who runs a company that cleans up murder scenes and homes where people are simply found dead from natural causes.

Listen to the people.
If you liked Studs Terkel's working you will like this book. The folks form word.com talk to people from every possible occupation, such as coporate lawyer, stripper, taco bell worker, CEO, etc. Each of them gets a couple of pages at least, and they talk freely about what their work experience is like. Some people love their jobs, some people plan on quitting soon. It is like talking to these people yourself. Gig is a fun read. There are lots of nicely obsereved details. The UPS guy talks about having to wear certain color t-shirts. An artist talks about liking the smell of paint. A temp guy talks about the need to look busy. It has a very high hard-to-put-down quotient. Also, I think it is a important book. This is the way people really think about their livlihood. A nice antitdote to coporate bs. Best read I have had in a while.

awesome, awesome read
I only read one entry a night to drag it out. It's that good. Not only is there much hilarity, you actually learn insider info about how things work--excellent cocktail conversation. I must have told 20 people things I've read in here, and I"m only a third finished.

I've actually confirmed some of the comments with people who really have those jobs--and they're true!

Escapism that gives U Ideas!
This is by far the best book i've read in 2 years. The stories are perfectly edited, so they are either concisely funny or heart-wrenching or appalling (mostly funny). YOu never know what you're going to get when you start one of the 3-page nuggets.

Not only was this fabulous escapism during the recent Horrors, it gave me truly useful ideas of how to better use MY life in a way that is rewarding and of use to the planet!! And how to appreciate the value, the contributions, and/or the sheer hilarity of my many jobs, past and present.

It¿s Not Just an Adventure. It¿s a Job.
There are three fundamental questions about work.

* What do other people do?

* Who actually does that?

* Is their job better than mine?

As it happens, all three questions have the same answer: you'd be surprised. After collecting years of a column on "Work", the editors of Word.com can tell you exactly what Americans do all day, and those jobs are both more bizarre and more mundane than you might imagine. As _Gig_ demonstrates, Americans are working as florists, lemonade salesmen, clutter consultants, smokehouse pit cooks, paparazzi, Elvis Presley interpreters, buffalo ranchers, heavy metal roadies - and in most cases, loving it.

_Gig_ is fascinating for its variety alone. But more importantly, _Gig_ is inspiring. It's hard to read this book and not be impressed: impressed by Americans' creativity, by their insight, even by their dedication. A receptionist echoes the voices of the 120-plus interviewees when she says that "I take pride in my job. I really - it's my baby, you know? That front desk is my baby. I just take a lot of pride in what I do."

There's no one way to read _Gig_. You can turn to the oddities. (Yes, crime scene cleaner is a real job.) You can look for the parallels and contrasts. (Temp, preceded by CEO, preceded by slaughterhouse human resources director.) You can flip around for anecdotes. (The systems administrator's tale is riveting.) Or you can take heart in homespun philosophy. A steelworker says that "you work with people you like, and they like you because you do your work, and you're with them. You're together." A lawn maintenance man articulates his dream to "finish up school. And then maybe I'll try to get one of those jobs where you can wear khaki pants and relax."

At times the editors try too hard to keep the interviews raw; the constant punctuation of "[Laughs]" can wear thin. But overall _Gig_ is extraordinary: part entertainment, part oral history, part homage to the work of Studs Terkel. _Gig_'s editors pay explicit tribute to Terkel's 1972 _Working_, yet the collection will remind you too of _Hard Times_, his brilliant collection of interviews on the Great Depression. If _Gig_ is a documentary, then it's a documentary in which the central participant shapes the structure and uncovers the meaning. Not unlike a job. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (10)

This is the ONE to buy
If you buy one book to help you if you're fired, I recommend this one without hesitation. I found the advice and recommendations invaluable. In a coherent, sensible approach, Mr. Sklover's experience shows through. At times he seemed to read my mind as he methodically covered my concerns as well as introduced topics that had not occurred to me. He translated the legal jargon into plain English, rendering the advice both understandable and useful. The list of more than 100 negotiating points is alone worth the price of the book. I think "this is the one" on this topic.

Practical guide to losing your job
I am in-house counsel to a major corporation and have had a great deal of experience with downsizing and termination and found this book to be a treasure-house of good advice on negotiating severance packages. The writer, a well-known severance lawyer who has represented many employees, presents a practical, sensible approach to negotiating the best severance package possible. He is a proponant of civilized negotiation as compared with testosterone-driven war-mode litigation and his advice is sound. Unlike many lawyers, he addresses the emotional side of losing a job and has many good suggestions for dealing with hurt pride before going to the negotiation table. In addition, he does not propose running to a lawyer on the day or termination. Rather, the book could be used by an employee to assist in negotiating his/her own package. The book is easy to read, written in plain English, and well organized. The index contains invaluable forms for severance agreements and letters. I can't imagine a better book on this subject.

Essential information helpfully presented
The problem is that when we have a job we tend to invest in the illusion of security. We also feel disloyal to our employer if we prepare for the time of separation.

The funny thing is that when the whack comes (and to often it is as unforseen as club to the back of the head) you can bet that the company has prepared very carefully every aspect of our severance package before they apply that hit to the sweet spot on your noggin.

Very few people have the clout to get an employment contract let alone negotiate up front for a separation arrangement. For most of us we live in an "at will" world. The author points out that this "at will" isn't necessarily as once sided as our employers would have us believe.

They rely on the shock of the moment, our lack of preparation, and our shame for losing our job to streamline us into signing away rights and getting the heck out of dodge. It isn't in their interests to give you time to think and prepare, and, frankly, when you are laying off 1,000 or 10,000 people you simply can't enter into separate negotiations with every one of them. However, I can tell you that in the UK employees are routinely given employment contracts as they are hired.

This is why every employee should read this book today. Prepare and think about the ever more inevitable separation. Empoyees need to be on as equal a footing with their employer as they can; given current laws and the limitations of economics. We need to have more open eyes and be less sentimental about our jobs.

This book is a great first step or two on that path. Just as profits are made when you purchase an asset (buying at the right price) - not when you sell them, the basis for your separation (which you should accept as inevitable in some non-specified future) is laid when you are hired. We need to be smarter when we go into these situations and realize the planning and, well, practiced sincerity (masked insincerity) that employers now use during hiring, throughout the term of employment and during termination.

They aren't bad people, necessarily, it is just that they are prepared for what is happeneing and most employees are not. The message of this very helpful book is "Get Prepared!".

It isn't that they are all bad people; it is the nature of the current business and legal climate that leads to much of this nonsense.

This book will provide a great morale booster and provide some thoughts that can help even a newly terminated employee create a decent plan of counter-attack. Better to use this information and take positive action than be pushed downstream like so many cut trees.

Shipping was Delayed!
I would have rated this book, but unfortunately, I was not shipped the order as promised. Maybe in a couple of months I will be able to offer better feedback.

"Now I know what to do, and how to do it."
Before I came across Mr. Sklover's book, I didn't know where to begin, or what had to be done. It was recommended to me by a friend who used it to help her, and it did. This book starts off slowly, and proceeds step by step in leading you through the process of Going Back, Asking for More, and Getting It..In Writing. It is the book on this subject that I believe will be the book everyone will read, use and keep...for the next time. ... Read more

Book Description

In recent years, New Yorkers have been surprised to see workers they had taken for granted—Mexicans in greengroceries, West African supermarket deliverymen and South Asian limousine drivers—striking, picketing, and seeking support for better working conditions. Suddenly, businesses in New York and the nation had changed and were now dependent upon low-paid immigrants to fill the entry-level jobs that few native-born Americans would take. Immigrants, Unions, and the New U.S. Labor Market tells the story of these workers' struggle for living wages, humane working conditions, and the respect due to all people. It describes how they found the courage to organize labor actions at a time when most laborers have become quiescent and while most labor unions were ignoring them. Showing how unions can learn from the example of these laborers, and demonstrating the importance of solidarity beyond the workplace, Immanuel Ness offers a telling look into the lives of some of America's newest immigrants. ... Read more

Book Description

In the tradition of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed and Studs Terkel’s Working, The Mind at Work is an illuminating reassessment of American labor. Testimonials to physical work have always celebrated the dignity, the economic and moral value, even the nobility of blue-collar labor, but rarely the thought required to get the job done right. The lightning-fast organization and mental calculations of the waitress; the complex spatial mathematics of the carpenter; the aesthetic and intellectual dexterity of the hair stylist—our failure to acknowledge or respect these qualities has undermined a large portion of America’s working population. In The Mind at Work award-winning writer Mike Rose sets the record straight by taking a long hard look at the intellectual demands of common work.

Integrating personal stories of his own working-class family with interviews, vivid snapshots of people on the job, and current research in social science and cognitive psychology, Rose draws a brilliantly original portrait of America at work. As he probes the countless decisions, computations, and subtle judgments made every day by welders and plumbers, waitresses and electricians, Rose redefines the nature of important work and overturns the "hand/brain" dichotomy that blinds us to the real contributions of working people. ... Read more

Book Description

A life-changing program to teach women and men the feminine way to start a business, develop self-confidence, self-love, and gain a new outlook on life.

Lynne Franks is one of the best-known public relations consultants in the world. In the years since she first began working from her own kitchen table, she has advised and guided women entrepreneurs from diverse cultural backgrounds across the globe.

In The SEED Handbook (Sustainable Enterprise and Empowerment Dynamics), Franks pulls together a twelve-stage program that is both an economic and personal growth tool. It contains practical exercises to give readers the confidence to trust their abilities, passions, and values to enable themselves to create something organic that grows naturally from who they are as people. Franks shows how to keep the dream alive with marketing, business planning, marketing launches, and case histories.

The women and men who Franks uses as examples are creating consciously ethical and responsible businesses based on integrity and love. Like them, many of us desire to start a sustainable enterprise but are too fearful. The SEED Handbook helps break the social conditioning and lack of confidence, find support, mentors, and plant the seeds that can create the garden we want to have in our lives.

With Franks's handbook, readers will not only become members of a thriving SEED community, but also happily take responsibility for their lives.

Illustrations by Anne Field ... Read more

Reviews (5)

There are better books on the market
Although I believe Lynne Franks has good insight for people who want to start their own business, I found it annoying the way that she would name drop and take credit for the success of others. If you are looking for an uplifting book that will help you take the next step toward running your own business, I would recommend, "Building a Business the Buddhist Way : A Practitioner's Guidebook" by Geri Larkin. This book provides the inspiration to take the next step and more practical advise on how to write a business plan and get started.

The Best Book in The World on starting a woman owned Busines
The book tells you that it is ok to shoot for the stars when every one else tells you other wise. If you want to start you own business and your a women PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK TODAY!

Good for inspiration, not for technical details
If you are thinking about starting your own business, and need encouragement and motivation to take the plunge, and if you are very visual, than this book could be helpful for you. It offers inspirational advice and is extremely well-designed and fun to look at (one of the reasons I bought the book was to put some of the illustrations on my bulletin board). If you are looking for hard-core information about the steps you will need to take to start your own business (i.e. legal and accounting information) this is not the book for you. Other than a list of organizations at the back, this book contains almost no practical information about the logistics of starting a business. Because the author's previous career was in public relations, there is a bit more information in that part of the book. Having said that however, if you get a headache every time you pick up one of those traditional business "how to" books filled with IRS type forms, this might be the book you need to ease you into the process. I find that it gets me in the mood and gives me the courage to tackle the dry practical books. Just be advised that you will need to purchase another book for the technical information. I would have given the book a higher rating, but I found the frequent mentions of the author's personal achievements to be quite irritating.

Warning! This book causes ideas and inspiration to bloom!
I have bought countless books on starting a business. You want to know why? Because all the others had two things missing. 1)That it is o.k. to have fun creating your biz. The exercises and bright graphics in The Seed Handbook uphold that theory. 2)Creating a business that allows my girl power to ooz. Other biz books for women mainly focus on juggling kids, chores and work. Do we need to read about this? This makes you stop and think about you, who you are and who you want to be. I found the exercises liberating! This book has given me a new perspective and rich soil to bloom.

Watch the Garden Grow
The Seed Handbook is a beautiful, challenging and practical read. The core ideas of personal development, balance and success are wonderfully conveyed and explored from beginning to end. The exercises that pepper the book take you through the often difficult and ugly business of assessing your life. But stick with it - it's well worth it! On every page Lynne Franks shares her wealth of experience and business savvy with people who, like me, are teetering on the edge of pursuing their innermost dreams coupled, with their natural abilities and affinities. Get the book and grow! ... Read more

Book Description

Learn to minimize your stress level -- both at the office and at home -- to maximize your productivity and happiness.

Learn all you need to know about coping with stress in the workplace, from identifying the causes and symptoms of stress to monitoring your response to pressure and implementing coping strategies. Reducing Stress shows how to reorganize your work practices and think positively, plus it also provides practical techniques to use when dealing with potential problem areas. Power tips help you to handle real-life situations and develop first-class stress-management skills that will dramatically improve your ability to deal with pressure. The Essential Manager have sold more than 1.9 million copies worldwide! Experienced and novice managers alike can benefit from these compact guides that slip easily into a briefcase or a portfolio. The topics are relevant to every work environment, from large corporations to small businesses. Concise treatments of dozens of business techniques, skills, methods, and problems are presented with hundreds of photos, charts, and diagrams. It is the most exciting and accessible approach to business and self-improvement available. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Reducing Stress
As the other reviewer said this book is for everyone and as the writer himself says this book wont make your stress disappear from your life it can only help you minimize it. And when I bought this book it sure did minimize my work-related stress that affected everything in my life but it still remained there.
The more I minimized it the more it grew. I never were more confused until I re-read the book only to find the line I thought I've read and there it was saying "Stress is infectious".
Soon after, I said bad-bye to the job of my dreams which shocked
the world around me when they knew how madly in love I was with that workplace. Then as I have felt it in the beginning it turned
up to be that I was drowning and that if I didn't quit that job I would have refused myself the lifejacket So my advice to all of you who deal with stupid stress generator people is :

BE BLIND, DEAF and ignore them IF YOU are that strong,
or If you're weak like "I was" create a lifejacket for yourself,
grab it, swim to some other place. And as you know it the biggest
city on earth which must have billions of work positions available is not even bigger than your smallest nail - when you look at it in the globe and an usual globe is bigger than thousands of nails put together :) Think about it!

Something else that may help you too is Charlie Chaplin's saying
"Life is a tragedy when you look at it in close up but a Comedy in long shot".

Emotional despair? Reduce Stress!
How Stressed Are You? This is the first question arising in today's Tech times. World Health Organization has predicted that by 2020, depression will be the greatest burden of ill health in the developing world and will be the second largest cause of death and disability!!!! One wonders but sure this book has a great indepth dose of Reducing Stress pills of info with analysis Quiz on Page 16 that actually lets one recognize existence of stress and later reducing it. In Analyzing the causes of Stress, society, the working world and daily life have changed almost beyond recognition in the past 50 years and these changes have contributed to a major increase in stress, says the author. Many factors add fuel to blown minds as we deal coping with daily life. The book has cool tips on Getting Organized in life itself, manage time,check the attitudinal traits, taking out time to relax, understanding personality types, building better relationships and check Health. Emotional despair is a major health disorder and so, before it's late, check those Stress flaws and learn to use mind power through Tim Hindle's book on 'Reducing Stress' - a Good Pick.

This could help anyone in the workplace!
Some of these manager books are not just for managers. They could be read and enjoyed by all employees. Of all the books I have read, this one seems to be the most wide ranging and could help everyone in your office.

Let's admit it. Work and life in general can be stressful. How we cope with stress can be a key to our success. This book will show you how to reorganize your work practices. It also explains how thinking positively can reduce stress.

"Make sure your home office is separate from your living space." -pg 25

Well, I fail that one.

"Start each day stress-free by straightening up the night before." -pg. 40

This works!

Learning to say no is something I really have to work on. Some people do find it difficult to say no because they are afraid of causing offense. Sometimes you just have to be assertive, after all, it is your life!

There is a section on making a time to relax. there are exercises and relaxation techniques you can use and this makes the book very practical. Deep breaths, deep breaths....there, see you feel so much better now. If anything helps, breathing will! ... Read more

Book Description

Recasting labor studies in a long-term and global framework, the book draws on a major new database on world labor unrest to show how local labor movements have been related to world-scale political, economic, and social processes since the late nineteenth century. Through an in-depth empirical analysis of select global industries, the book demonstrates how the main locations of labor unrest have shifted from country to country together with shifts in the geographical location of production.It shows how the main sites of labor unrest have shifted over time together with the rise or decline of new leading sectors of capitalist development and demonstrates that labor movements have been deeply embedded (as both cause and effect) in world political dynamics.Over the history of the modern labor movement, the book isolates what is truly novel about the contemporary global crisis of labor movements. Arguing against the view that this is a terminal crisis, the book concludes by exploring the likely forms that emergent labor movements will take in the twenty-first century. ... Read more

Book Description

Hardbound. This book consists of a selected subset of papers presented at the International Symposium of Linked Employer-Employee Data, held in Washington DC, in May 1998 - to address the creation and analysis of such matched data in an environment that safeguards respondent confidentiality. The conference brought together a wide range of social scientists and statisticians from more than 20 countries.

Three broad themes are highlighted:(1) The analysis of linked employer-employee data.The basic finding of this and the next section is that the firm matters a good deal in explaining the differences in earnings, productivity, and work experiences of individual workers. Linked data allow the researcher to disentangle the firm effects from the worker effects.(2) Econometric issues involved with the analysis of such data.Creating and analyzing employer-employee matched data sets presents a number of new econometric problems ... Read more

Reviews (65)

Interesting inside view of a family struggle.
Cliff Walk made me look at and change my attitudes about people who do manual labor as an occupation. The book is enjoyable because of the way it is written, almost at times like poetry. But that doesn't detract from the serious issues the author addresses. He takes the reader inside the family and his head as he attempts to deal with major issues like providing for four children and a wife after being fired and minor ones like his son's being upset about dad's bald spot. At times Snyder was almost too sensitive to his children's day to day concerns and yet not aware of his own needs. The author deals with issues everyone may have to confront at some point: how to deal with a total job change because there are not enough positions in the field for which you are trained. This truly is a book for our times

Must-read for those working with dislocated workers.
This moving, at times poetic tale of coping with job loss should be required reading for everybody that works with dislocated workers.

As a self-made professional who defined his place in the world by his success in academe, Snyder experiences all the classic steps of grief when he loses his job. This guy was not just knee-deep, he was up to his ears in denial--and his family, particularly his wife, paid the price. I was particularly moved by his wife's ability to swallow her pride to return merchandise following his bouts of profligate overspending--even as she was reduced to applying for food stamps to feed their 4 kids. How could he be so foolish? Snyder lets us see exactly how . . . and also shows us how his eventual acceptance changed not only his job, but his life.

I work in a retraining program for dislocated workers, and this book provided me more insight into the devastation of job loss than any how-to book I've come across. I wept, and so will you.

it could happen to you
A brutally honest and intriguing look at the stages we go through when employed. The writer wasn't just unemployed, however, his former life as a college professor was golden enough to give a deep-set but false sense of security that things would always continue to be that good. But whatever you chalk up other people's unemployment, too, you can't dismiss Snyder's with an easy explanation. Finally, he moves his wife and children and began doing manual labor. Snyder doesn't shy away from portraying his less than flattering side, but when he finally tells his son, "You do the work right even when you're working for a jerk," you're on his side all the way.

Snyder: Those CANNOT do will get a job TEACHING????
Don Snyder: Heard you on the radio. You seemed a decent, honest man. However, remember the old saying.

"Those can do will do, those cannot do will get a job teaching".. Please, Please, Please teaching English is not a REAL job.

Anyone can BS in front of 18, 19 years old. The academic world has "HARD" subjects like science, math, engineering, medicine, and "SOFT" subjects like arts, literature, humanities.

The English department is what we called "bonehead" "no brains" "mickey mouse"

If you had been teaching in the mathematics, science, medicine, engineering departments, you could get another job overnight.

Please, teaching English Literature is not a real job. The Internet, Computers hopefully will obsolete these jobs and all these phoney jobs, phoney people will have to real jobs.

day by day after being fired
don's book is not one you want to read wanting to be like him. life is rough, yet rewarding and offers so many pitfalls and obstacles that you're often cringing at whatlife can offer you sometimes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Don't Negotiate a Labor Contract Without It
"Negotiating a Labor Contract" by Charles S. Loughran is an outstanding how-to book. It breaks down a highly complex subject in an easily understood manner. There is no legal mumbo-jumbo in this book - just a practical, to the point, step-by-step overview of the entire labor contract negotiating process. The book benefits not only the labor relations professional. Operations people will gain a strong understanding of the negotiating process, including the preparation required prior to beginnning bargaining. It will allow management to position themselves to get the best deal possible. The book's appendix includes detailed checklists on, among other items, negotiations and strike contingency preparation. It also includes a succinct overview of the law controlling labor negotiations. The book was indispensable for me as a member of the negotiating team during a protracted nine-month negotiation that included a union reneg, a tie ratification vote, elimination of dues check-off and declaration of impasse. With each twist and turn in the road, there are people who gladly will offer advice. Throughout it all, Charles Loughran was there to keep me pointed in the right direction. I also found the book invaluable when I was assigned to be chief spokesperson for several small bargaining unit negotiations. I recommend the book strongly to anyone who is involved, in any way, in labor contract negotiations. I must include in this group, members of Union negotiating committees. Union reps who read this book would benefit greatly (and so would their members). It has been three years since I read the book, but I refer back to it frequently. I also recommend it to others whenever possible. My hope is that the author is able to keep the book up-to-date. The second edition is now six years old. At least one line of his advice, that "management negotiators should seek to include a 'zipper' clause" (p. 465) appears to be a concept no longer in vogue among labor attorneys. Nevertheless, to me, Charles Loughran's work will always be a classic of business books. Don't negotiate a labor contract without it. ... Read more

Book Description

Discover a unique resource on the "what," "why," and "how" of mutual aid in group settings!

While an impressive body of professional literature attests to the central role of mutual aid in social work practice with groups, what has been lacking is a single source that links the description of mutual aid (what it is, exactly) with practice prescriptions (how to help it come about and flourish in various settings). This book does just that.

This updated edition of the pathbreaking original contains four entirely new chapters that address:

single-session groups
short-term groups
open-ended groups
very large groups

In addition, this book will help you to better understand and make use of mutual-aid perspectives on:

pre-group planning
early group goals and norms
the significance of time and place, and the role of the group worker
individual problem-solving
authority, conflict, and evaluation

Each chapter of The Mutual-Aid Approach to Working with Groups: Helping People Help One Another, Second Edition describes and discusses how to catalyze mutual aid in different settings and systems—including generic and specific obstacles to overcome; offers implications for practice and identifies group-specific skills for reaching each system's full mutual-aid potential.

This new edition of The Mutual-Aid Approach to Working with Groups provides a foundation for practice, examining theories, concepts, and practice principles specific to mutual aid. Readers are directed to ample study resources in key areas via recommended reading lists at the end of each chapter. Case examples are used to help bridge the gap between theory and practice in an immediately useful manner, and handy tables and figures make important points easy to access and understand. ... Read more

Book Description

John W. Budd contends that the turbulence of the current workplace and the importance of work for individuals and society make it vitally important that employment be given "a human face." Contradicting the traditional view of the employment relationship as a purely economic transaction, with business wanting efficiency and workers wanting income, Budd argues that equity and voice are equally important objectives. The traditional narrow focus on efficiency must be balanced with employees' entitlement to fair treatment (equity) and the opportunity to have meaningful input into decisions (voice), he says. Only through a greater respect for these human concerns can broadly shared prosperity, respect for human dignity, and equal appreciation for the competing human rights of property and labor be achieved.

Budd proposes a fresh set of objectives for modern democracies—efficiency, equity, and voice—and supports this new triad with an intellectual framework for analyzing employment institutions and practices. In the process, he draws on scholarship from industrial relations, law, political science, moral philosophy, theology, psychology, sociology, and economics, and advances debates over free markets, globalization, human rights, and ethics. He applies his framework to important employment-related topics, such as workplace governance, the New Deal industrial relations system, comparative industrial relations, labor union strategies, and globalization. These analyses create a foundation for reforming employment practices, social norms, and public policies. In the book's final chapter, Budd advocates the creation of the field of human resources and industrial relations and explores the wider implications of this renewed conceptualization of industrial relations. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent look at the full scope of Employment Relationship
John Budd brings into focus something that is not always looked at in the employment relationship. He has brought ideas that helped me better understand why just $$$ is not sufficient in this ever changing world in order to retain good employees. New Human Resouces practices are starting to see this, but not able to explain why this trend is occuring. Budd gives an excellent overview of why employers need to do more than just 'show me the money' in finding and retaining good talent.

I think he develops a key point in talking about employee voice. Employee's need to know they are heard, even if the management can't necessarily do anything about it. If you want to know more, read Budd's book. ... Read more

Book Description

The ultimate dream of many people is to work at home and still be actively involved in a growing business.Now that dream can be a reality.This new guide shows how to set up, run, and grow a home-based business.Included are explanations of laws affecting home-based businesses, tax rules, how to turn a great idea into a great home-based business, and how to market the business.Forms and glossary included. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A casual and informative presentation of a serious topic
The three (3) most important areas of any book are its content, writing style, and organization. Weltman's book is superb on all three counts. It is a detailed, succinct, point-by-point introduction to a growing and popular topic in today's fast-paced, changing society.

Each chapter begins by explaining what you will learn, then explains key concepts at least twice in the middle, and finally summarizes the least you need to know about each aspect of the home business.

The book itself is divided into six useful parts, plus appendices filled with helpful information. Each part focuses on a particular aspect of running a home business, such as: your reasons for wanting your own business, the types of businesses you can run (franchises, ready-made businesses, existing businesses, or your own pet project), financing the home business, setting up the home office, running the home office, and finally common personal issues unique to running the home office and scaling up.

Broadly speaking, Weltman devotes an equal amount of space to each topic. However, some topics, such as taxation (any advanced student should keep a copy of that particular info very close by) receive a lot of attention, while others, such as planning and budgeting the start-up, are clearly de-emphasized. The book also includes a lot of useful information in little boxes on every other page such as entrepreneurial statistics, key business terminology, added information (based on experience) to help perform a particular aspect of your business better, and things to avoid while in business.

In terms of content, the book is packed with plenty of information to get you started. Though the book is very comprehensive, more advanced readers may find it to be a bit redundant at times. Key terms, concepts, and absolutely need to know information are repeated often ( for the quick learner, ad nauseum) in each chapter. This use of repetition, however, does not weaken the book, as repetition is a proven method of learning new concepts.

The book is heavily laden with useful contact information and resources. Weltman presents the essentials, the absolute bare bones structural framework for the typical home-based business. The book's major strength is its presentation of key issues in very general, easy to understand terms. You are not inundated with a lot of excess, useless resources and you are slowly and casually guided through each phase of your start-up. Weltman also thoughtfully includes good federal and state resources one can actually use.

For the initiate, everything is discussed simply and clearly, as if the author is sitting right in front of you chatting over a delicious cup of Seattle's Best Coffee (sorry folks, but Starbuck's just doesn't cut it), but the more clever may find the book a slow and plodding read (this is a thick book, folks). Now, the book's major weaknesses lie in its utter lack of information on selling methods, management techniques (classic, coordinator, or craftsman), structuring employment contracts (especially for independent contractors), scheduling, getting and keeping customers, and operating a global business (my personal interest) from home.

Weltman skillfully introduces all the things one should consider when starting a home based business. It is the approach I would take with those who want to start a business but have no idea as to how to start. Those who are really serious about starting their own home business should not stop with Weltman's book. Look to other books to present you with the meat on such topics as contracts, selling, and managing employees. More advanced readers can skip this book and start with Karen Cheney and Lesley Alderman's How to Start a Successful Home Business. ... Read more

Book Description

The most significant domestic issue of the 2004 elections is unemployment. The United States has lost nearly three million jobs in the last ten years, and real employment hovers around 9.1 percent. Only one political analyst foresaw the dark side of the technological revolution and understood its implications for global employment: Jeremy Rifkin.

The End of Work is Jeremy Rifkin's most influential and important book. Now nearly ten years old, it has been updated for a new, post-New Economy era. Statistics and figures have been revised to take new trends into account. Rifkin offers a tough, compelling critique of the flaws in the techniques the government uses to compile employment statistics.

The End of Work is the book our candidates and our country need to understand the employment challenges-and the hopes-facing us in the century ahead. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A Great Compilation Of Labor History inAmerica
I must admit that when I read this book, I was a bit dissappointed at the lack of new information. As a student of labor history, I had read previously many of the ideas and concepts that Rifkin expands upon in several other books. I only wished I had picked up this one book, prior to reading all the others. It would have saved me much time and money.

In short, Rifkin decribes the transition of the worker from pre-industrial revolution, through the era of machines and mass-production, and the advent of the information age in which he predicts there will be fewer and fewer workers. His analysis describes how this effects the worker, organizational make-up, employment relationships, and even how government has been forced to change to accomodate the modern economy.

I believe that anyone interested in the dynamics of technology and globalism on the workforce will find Rifkin's work very interesting, well-written, and easy to read.

A worthwhile read...
Rifkin's work, with a foreword from perhaps one of the most socialist mainstream economists of our day, Robert Heilbroner, of the New School for Social Research, addresses squarely the problems caused by technology replacing labor in today's rapidly changing globalized economy. Since only educated Americans read these days, fully 75%-85% of the U.S. population will never be exposed to the author's insights. Therefore, the solutions presented by Rifkin will fall on deaf ears; and perhaps, they should. Technology as the driving force for social change, as in every other epoch of modern human history, is carving out a niche for the technologically informed individuals. For the sociologists out there, is a new "class" (heaven forbid) being constituted? I think so. What will be the political, economic, and sociological result? Most likely not much different than the impacts of the past epochs: capital/wealth concentration to those individual and institutions who own and control the "means of production" (my apologies to those made nauseous by Marxist arguments) or, in this case, those who control the creation and production of information- or knowledge-based technologies (read Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Time Warner, Disney, GE, Westinghouse). Capitalism has survived in various forms (despite Mr. Marx's assertions) for thousands of years whether in the form of feudalism, mercantilsm, imperialism, corporatism, or today's state-sponsored global corporatism. Therefore, a suggestion to all of those of the laboring classes: Why not give in? Accept benevolent corporate benefactors in the best case, or non-wage-based, total private corporate slavery in exchange for room and board, minimal disease care, and survival. Why struggle and compete against your neighbors, friends, and family members, when wage slaves can never "win" the battle against technological advancements and corporate-statist, social organization? Technologically-disenfranchised wage slaves of the world unite! Instead of the public welfare state of the last half of the twentieth century, financed primarily by regressive payroll taxes levied against the working class, accept defeat; demand benevolent, corporate socialist slavery!

Rifkin is a neo-Malthusian
This book was ok in that it did a good job in describing workplace dislocations caused by new technology, but in many ways, its the same old situation. If one is looking for a very clearly articulated portrayal of these dislocations in the modern time, then one will like this book. I disagree with all of the doom and gloom, however. This sort of doom and gloom reminded me of the Malthus's writings about overpopulation and fears of machinery in the late 19th century, both of which I view as very discredited observations.

There will always be dislocations as result of technological progress; and as tragic as it is, one cannot progress without rendering something obsolete. But we are nowhere near a post-market nor a post-scarcity era.

Everyday more relevant.
Amazon does not allow to scale a book differently for the message and for the way the message is brought. For the message I would give a 5 , for the way a 4, for the solutions a 3.
The theme brought is one of the principal societal trends of today and debit to the current economic crisis. The decline of the working middle class and work as the core of wealth, is becoming inescapable for anyone reading the economic pages in the newspapers or making a living by working in a corporation (I am an ERP consultant). A book written before 1995 has become even more actual in 2003, the temporary relief during the 4 bubble years 98-01 notwithstanding, the economy is a Medusa raft. Why Gore was not allowed or not finding funding to make it a campaing theme is a perfectly understandable drama.
The way it is brought: most of the evidence and working out of the theme is anecdotal and circumstantial, that makes for interesting and fast reading but leaves you without the solidity of scientific proof. There are no statistics, no graphs, no formulas, nothing of the kind. I did not need convincing of the truth of what is happening and those who are not will not by statistics or facts alone, but I like scientifically verifiable facts and figures.
The solutions: undoubtably the non-market sector, guaranteed annual income and income transfers will have to play a role and Rifkin sites a wealth of names and studies supporting this. What I want to see are figures showing how it all adds up: how much redistribution, what are the required tax levels, what are the income levels needed to sustain a 'volunteer' middleclass, what are the permissable income gaps to make it work ?

My Radical Point of View
The title of this book should be My Radical Point of View. Although I did enjoy this book and the decade by decade review of the history of the American workforce and its laws, I found Mr. Rifkin's views quite radical even in the post 9/11 economy. It is very difficult to believe that the world will become a workerless society as the author would like us to believe. There will always be the need for people to fix the machines that Mr Rifkin believes will replace humans. He also does not address one of the largest employers of people that will never be in the technology age, the healthcare industry.

Our society and economy will always have its ups and downs, but it has always recovered. Since 9/11 most of the jobs that were eliminated were technology positions. This is in direct contrast with the main idea of the book. It would be naive to believe that technolgy has not replaced humans because of the advances in machinery and computers, but to the extent The End of Work would like us to believe is foolish.

Hopefully there will be a sequel to this book in 20 years to see how correct Mr. Rifkins views are, but I would tend to believe we will still all have jobs and not be out of work. ... Read more