Article02 - The Last 100 Years

The Last 100 Years of Work:
Lots of Changes, Some Surprising Similarities
by Co-Development International

In 1995, the U.S. celebrated the 100th anniversary of Labor Day, the holiday initially designed to honor the value of labor union members in American business. A comparison of the workplace of today with work in the last century shows many expected differences - and a few startling similarities.

"Every aspect of working has changed dramatically during the past 100 years - the who, what, when, where, why and how. But in some ways we've done a figure eight and returned to the business ideals and practices of the turn of the century," said Peta Penson, Ed.D., a principal with the consulting firm Co-Development International.

Penson points to the '90s emphasis on customer service, "mass customization," and database marketing as examples of current trends that are rooted in the old-fashioned, personalized way of doing business that was common in the 1890s. "The tailor on the corner knew how you wanted your shirts made," she said. "Now, Nordstrom keeps track of that information in a computer and mails you a notice when your favorite style is going on sale. It's the same idea."

Another similarity is the fact that a segment of the workforce are on the job site far longer than the standard 40-hour work week. "Of course, in the 1800s it was the poorest workers who were on the job 12 to 14 hours per day, six and seven days a week," she said. "Now it's more likely to be managers and entrepreneurs who put in 60 and 70 hour work weeks."

Here is a list of 100 ways in which work has changed since Labor Day was introduced:

WHO

1.		Fewer children as workers
2.		More women working outside the home
3.		Fewer high school drop-outs; more college educated
4.		More people of color
5.		Fewer members of trade unions
6.		More people with disabilities
7.		More "old" workers (1890 life expectancy = 43; 1995 = 78)
8.		More families where both parents work
9.		More illegal immigrants
10.		Fewer functional specialists
11.		More cross functional generalists
12.		More non-English speaking workers who do not want to learn English
13.		More workers who feel their rights are as important as the company's
14.		More workers who sound, look, and think like their counterparts on the other side of the country
15.		More people who have been laid off
16.		More professional entertainers and paid athletes
17.		More are shareholders or hold equity in the companies where they work
18.		More are kept track of by a series of numbers rather than by name
19.		More ask "why" when given an assignment
20.		More likely to voluntarily move in and out of workforce during lifetime

WHAT

21.		Fewer agricultural jobs
22.		Less physically demanding work
23.		More information-based "brain" jobs; fewer opportunities for unskilled labor
24.		Fewer assembly lines (they're now overseas)
25.		Fewer working as personal servants
26.		More doing jobs they can't explain to their children
27.		More creating products or offering services that didn't exist when they were born
28.		More concentration on "mass customization," compared to individual customization (late 1800s) or mass production (1910-1980s)
29.		More in a different career than where they originally started -- average workers can now expect to change career fields at least two to three times
30.		More anticipating a job change -- average workers can now expect to hold 8-12 different jobs during their adult work years
31.		Fewer following in their father's or their mother's footsteps
32.		Fewer have monopoly over company information
33.		Fewer serving customers who are friends or family
34.		Many more daily contact with other people -- in person, by phone, fax, e-mail, mail, teleconference, etc.
35.		More have access to more information than they can absorb
36.		Previously in jobs that were categorized as "women's work" or "men's work"
37.		Most jobs now have some computerized aspect
38.		Fewer making products used by the everyday person
39.		More making products sold to other businesses
40.		More making products sold to people they'll never meet or talk to
41.		Fewer doing routinized, "no thinking" jobs
42.		More jobs requiring creativity and decision-making
43.		More documentation of job performance required
44.		Still relying on paperless information -- now in a computer, previously in someone's head
45.		More in jobs where you end the work day almost as clean and sweat-free as when you started the day

WHEN

46.		Fewer graveyard shifts
47.		More flexible work times
48.		Less likely to punch the clock
49.		More average hours per week for salaried employees
50.		Now 24 hours per day, any day
51.		More work on Sunday
52.		For more years -- 40-50 work years now, compared to 20-30 previously
53.		More now likely to think and worry about work after they leave work
54.		More are likely to be late to work -- and not to worry about it
55.		Less reliance on seasonality, weather, availability of daylight
56.		Less likely to lose work time because of a strike -- yours or others

WHERE

57.		More in metropolitan areas
58.		In suburban business parks and shopping malls
59.		Now as telecommuters
60.		More in $1+ billion corporations
61.		More in companies employing fewer than 500 than was true in the middle of the century
62.		Now in high-rise structures and expensive real estate
63.		More in safer facilities with safer equipment
64.		Fewer in fresh air, more in environmentally sealed buildings
65.		More in offices, stores and factories farther from their homes
66.		More for a variety of employers throughout their work years
67.		Most now in industries that didn't exist in 1894
68.		More "on the road and in the sky"
69.		Fewer in family-owned businesses
70.		More for foreign-owned companies
71.		In a highly-regulated work situation
72.		Fewer in towns where they were born and grew up
73.		More on the West Coast, in the Southwest and the Southeast; fewer proportionately in the Northeast
74.		More in a work environment protected from the elements
75.		More potential for the workplace to be damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster
76.		In a workplace where the plant and machines are less likely to maim or kill you
77.		In a workplace where you are more likely to be injured or killed by a fellow worker or upset customer

WHY

78.		For work satisfaction, as well as for money
79.		To give definition to your life
80.		Far fewer out of loyalty to an employer
81.		To pay income tax -- which wasn't around 100 years ago
82.		For higher salaries than ever before, but for a standard of living that is no longer the best in the world
83.		More with second or third jobs to "make ends meet"
84.		More to "fill time" because the basics of daily living (cooking, laundry, cleaning, etc.) are less time consuming
85.		More for paychecks to buy luxuries than bare necessities
86.		More for benefits beyond money -- health care coverage, paid vacations, retirement plans
87.		More to make money for additional education and training to qualify for a better job
88.		More receive promotions for communication/"people" skills than for productivity
89.		To create leisure time for "fun"

HOW

90.		In self-managed work teams, rather than under the tight scrutiny of a supervisor
91.		Fewer by telegraph, now by e-mail, fax and cellular phone
92.		Less face to face contact, more communication by voice to voice or line to line
93.		In 1894, in strictly vertical organizational structures -- now horizontally in teams, clusters, and "virtual corporations" to get work done
94.		Now in a workplace that seems to change dramatically every year
95.		More with a global perspective
96.		Less "hands on," more mechanization
97.		More aware of the "big picture" beyond their individual focus
98.		Previously with access to unlimited natural resources; now with scarcer resources and other environmental limitations
99.		With far more stress
100.		Faster, faster, faster