Work in the New Economy: Flexible Labor Markets in Silicon Valley [Paperback]

Chris Benner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0631232508 | ISBN-13: 978-0631232506 | Edition: 1

This book contributes to our understanding of the transformation of work in the information economy, through a detailed examination of labor markets in Silicon Valley. It provides an original and insightful analysis of flexible labor including growing volatility in work demands and increasingly tenuous employment relations.

• Contributes to our understanding of the transformation of work in the information economy, through a detailed examination of labor markets in Silicon Valley.
  
• Provides an original and insightful analysis of flexible labor including growing volatility in work demands and increasingly tenuous employment relations.
  
• Examines the increasingly important role of labor market intermediaries.
  
• Shows that some workers clearly thrive in this vibrant context, but many face high levels of insecurity admist growing inquality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The labor market in Silicon Valley is the likely harbinger of things to come in the rest of the American economy. Chris Benner’s analysis of this market’s structure should be taken very seriously. He has brought us a vast amount of information that will help policy makers plan for the future.” Professor Martin Carnoy, Stanford University

“Benner’s work on the Silicon Valley’s labor markets provides valuable insights for policymakers and activists as well as scholars who care about the future of work and workers in the new economy.” ProfessorAnnaLee Saxenian, UC Berkeley

"Chris Benner, in his ground-breaking study of Work in the New Economy has done us an immense favour by offering an alternative way to conceptualize labour markets, a way which not only allows us to capture the dynamics within them, but also helps us move dialectically between structuralist approaches and those rooted in notions of individual agency." International Review of Social History

From the Back Cover

The rise of the information economy is dramatically transforming work and employment conditions around the globe. Who does the work, how it is done, and the results it produces for individuals and their families, for organizations and for society, is undergoing fundamental change.

This book contributes to our understanding of the transformation of work in the information economy, through a detailed examination of labor markets in Silicon Valley. It provides an original and insightful analysis of flexible labor including growing volatility in work demands and increasingly tenuous employment relations. In shaping this context of rapid change, it examines the increasingly important role of labor market intermediaries. These new labor dynamics, shaped by flexibility and intermediation, create difficult and contradictory conditions for workers. Some workers clearly thrive in this vibrant context, but many face high levels of insecurity amidst growing inequality.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (August 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631232508
• ISBN-13: 978-0631232506
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,560,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clears away the hype on the new economy, October 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Work in the New Economy: Flexible Labor Markets in Silicon Valley (Paperback)

This book provides the clearest analysis of work in the new economy of anything I've read, using Silicon Valley as the prototypical region of the future of work. It cuts through all the hype, and analyzes both the region's dynamism, but also the reasons behind the volatility, insecurity, and rise in contract/temporary employment. It provides innovative and useful suggestions for ways of increasing security for workers in the region's labor market, while maintaining the region's dynamism. Should be read by every elected official and policy maker in the country, and anyone else concerned about the changing nature of work in the new economy.