"The third quarter of the twentieth century was a golden age for labor in the advanced industrial countries, characterized by rising incomes, relatively egalitarian wage structures, and reasonable levels of job security. The subsequent quarter-century has seen less positive performance along a...

Using case study data gathered between 1993 and 1996, the authors investigate how automation of information handling and materials handling affected employment distribution, skill acquisition, work activities, and compensation in 23 semiconductor plants in four countries. Information handling...

For decades the semiconductor industry has been a driver of global economic growth and social change. Semiconductors, particularly the microchips essential to most electronic devices, have transformed computing, communications, entertainment, and industry. In Chips and Change, Clair Brown and...

We discuss an emerging employment system characterized by a high degree of employment security with flexible job assignments, employee involvement in problem solving and continuous improvement, and continuous training of employees. We call this model the SET system (for Security, Employee...

Semiconductor design is a frequently-cited example of the new wave of offshoring and foreign-outsourcing of service sector jobs. It is certainly a concern to U.S. design engineers themselves. In addition to the current wave of white-collar outsourcing, the industry also has a rich experience...