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The End of Work Hardcover – December 28, 1994

by Jeremy Rifkin (Author)

4.5 49 ratings

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An analysis of the potentially catastrophic implications of the growing worldwide unemployment crisis explains how we can avoid economic collapse, create conditions for a new, more humane social order, and redefine the role of the individual in the new society.

From Publishers Weekly

In this challenging report, social activist Rifkin (Biosphere Politics) contends that worldwide unemployment will increase as new computer-based and communications technologies eliminate tens of millions of jobs in the manufacturing, agricultural and service sectors. He traces the devastating impact of automation on blue-collar, retail and wholesale employees, with a chapter devoted to African Americans. While a small elite of corporate managers and knowledge workers reap the benefits of the high-tech global economy, the middle class continues to shrink and the workplace becomes ever more stressful, according to Rifkin. As the market economy and public sector decline, he forsees the growth of a "third sector"-voluntary and community-based service organizations-that will create new jobs with government support to rebuild decaying neighborhoods and provide social services. To finance this enterprise, he advocates scaling down the military budget, enacting a value-added tax on nonessential goods and services and redirecting federal and state funds to provide a "social wage" in lieu of welfare payments to third-sector workers. 50,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Global unemployment is now at its highest levels since the Great Depression. Rifkin (Biosphere Politics, LJ 5/15/91) argues that the Information Age is the third great Industrial Revolution. A consequence of these technological advances is the rapid decline in employment and purchasing power that could lead to a worldwide economic collapse. Rifkin foresees two possible outcomes: a near workerless world in which people are free, for the first time in history, to pursue a utopian life of leisure; or a world in which unemployment leads to an even further polarization of the economic classes and a decline in living conditions for millions of people. Rifkin presents a highly detailed analysis of the technological developments that have led to the current situation, as well as intriguing, yet alarming, theories of what is to come. Highly recommended for both general and business collections.
Gary W. White, Pennsylvania State Univ., Harrisburg
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Rifkin is a social activist and environmentalist who has written a number of provocative books. He has most recently gained attention with his Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture (1992), an environmental argument against the cattle industry and eating beef. He now warns of global unemployment due to the technological and information revolutions but suggests that job retraining may be an ill-conceived panacea because the jobs being trained for no longer exist or will not exist in the near future. He describes a workerless "post-market" future and shows how the same technological revolution could be used to foster a new social order in which third sector and community-based organizations take up the tasks of providing basic services and meaningful activity. The alternative, he cautions, is a burgeoning criminal class made up of the marginalized idle. Look for Rifkin to attract attention again. David Rouse

About the Author

Jeremy Rifkin is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, D.C.

Print length

350 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Tarcher
Publication date

December 28, 1994
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

9.3 x 1.29 x 6.28 inches
ISBN-10

9780874777796
ISBN-13

978-0874777796
See all details

Jeremy Rifkin
44
Paperback
77 offers from $1.24
Jeremy Rifkin
138
Hardcover
96 offers from $2.52

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0874777798
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tarcher; First Edition (December 28, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 350 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780874777796
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0874777796
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.3 x 1.29 x 6.28 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,018,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #20,717 in Success Self-Help
- #168,089 in Business & Money (Books)

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4.5 49 ratings

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Jeremy Rifkin

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One of the most popular social thinkers of our time, Jeremy Rifkin is the bestselling author of The European Dream, The Hydrogen Economy, The Age of Access, The Biotech Century, and The End of Work. A fellow at the Wharton School's Executive Education Program and an adviser to several European Union heads of state, he is the president of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Bethesda, Maryland.

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4.5 out of 5

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Chris Dobyns

A Truly Fascinating Read

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2012

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This may have been one of the top 1-2 books I've read this year - which needs to be contextually framed by the fact that I typically have time to read no more than 4-5 books each year anyway. Maybe I'm just "extra good" at the selectivity of the books that I choose, but this one was really quite good. It explores the multiple dimensions of increased productivity, work, an increasing population - and the continued and rapid encroachment of technology in the displacement of workers. Most of those workers up to now have been more production-oriented, but will the rise of computers and technology in the future signal the beginning of the loss of jobs for knowledge workers? Given that this book was written close to 15 years ago - it was prescient in some of its predictions, and especially telling in light of the recent (and persistent) recession - and where 1 in 5 low wage jobs were lost in the recession, but in the recovery, low wage jobs have represented close to 3 in 5 jobs created. Read this book, but don't plan on having a good night's sleep on the day you finish it (unless you're lucky enough to already be retired).

7 people found this helpful

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Norvell Maples

a study in what the problem really is

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2014

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This is a great book... Really lays out the solutions to some hard hitting problems of our day... Finally a book that looks at the real issues at hand from a logical... and dare I say it... scientific approach... to why things are the way they are and how we got here... This is a must read for anyone wondering why they can't find work in their field after having put in so much work to get the proper credentials and degrees to accomplish their chosen path... This book really gets your mind thinking outside the box that we have been programmed into believing... Leads you down a new path of seeing the world for the way it really is... and hopefully takes you in new directions that helps you jump the hurdles that have been placed in your way to achieving your goals... In any endeavor you must first understand the problem... this book is a study in what the problem is...

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

a classic.... a must read to understand todays economy

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2013

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Less and less jobs despite more and more production due advances in technology. ... unfortunately instead of sharing the gains it all is going to fewer and fewer. ...a classic truer today than ever

2 people found this helpful

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Duamutef Tehuti

The End Of Work

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2010

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This book is a must read for all who want to understand the current employment situation, how it got this way and; how it will continue to progress. Jeremy Rifkin has done excellent research and presents a very factual account of employment history and trends as well as solutions.His suggestion are being implemented. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great read. I highly recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

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NJ5J

Death to people who actually do the work - world is changing and not for the better.

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2015

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It is happening now.

One person found this helpful

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benjamin alvarez

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2015

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knowledgable and informative

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Pass on this book, unless you need it for coursework of some sort

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2009

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I read this book on the suggestion of a friend. In general, I'm not a fan. Here are some highlights.

On the positive side of the book, Rifkin has obviously done a very thorough job researching employment throughout the century, various periods, etc. He also makes some interesting points with respect to the manner in which technology rids people of jobs. He does articulate that the net result is that production increases past the point of which the economy can absorb the excess.

However, where I really disagree with him is on the following points. First, he has not really normalized his data to incorporate those that were not included in the count (minorities, countries with non-purchasing populations, etc) during the different periods in question. He also fails to see some of the other fairly pertinent changes that have occurred throughout history as well that also impact unemployment rates, i.e. changing population demographics due to war, the opening of communist economies, the end of dictatorship/regimes.

Further, he does not quite articulate the need to reinvest. He hints at it a bit, but he does not see that with each economic downturn and rise in unemployment, society has created a better secondary net. The loss of jobs generally occurs at the lowest level, and I get that it effects those that are the poorest. However, cheap goods leads them to have a slightly better time of fulfilling basic needs. In other words, though the poor continue to be poor, we should consider at each period what the poor they are better off. Alternatively, you could comparatively do the analysis across countries with varying levels of technological access (though of course, that would be a mess to neutralize second order affects). There are other far more interesting arguments that look at income gap between decile-d wage earners. While I'm not completely in agreement with such research, at least it is more fleshed out.

He somewhat completely misses that the end game is for people to become smarter as a whole. Or that the increase in goods does make life - from a basic needs standpoint - easier; allowing for more inclusion in politics, society, etc.

I do agree with him that people need to think past the rat race and try to figure out how to evolve and think of creation of things outside of material goods to be exchanged in the name of greed. I get that. And perhaps an alternative solution is to fulfill basic needs but foster enlightened understandings/education of what "choice" of livelihood really means. I recognize that only the greatest of optimists would think that people would not just choose to be a lazy stump and watch reality tv all day, but hey, maybe. Still, I'd like to see the conclusion be to improve education; not to hate technology or see it as an enemy which isolates blue collar, less resource rich citizens.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

A.Miller

Strongly recommend

Reviewed in Canada on October 19, 2018

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An amazing book

Frere

Outdated info but still an essential read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2013

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This hard to find book explains how most forms of human work are now being replaced by machines, which begs for an urgent r[love]ution. Instead of demanding work, we have to demand a fair distribution of the infinite wealth we are now able to produce.

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

The book is a bit dated but the problem outlined lives on with a vengence.

MikeExplorer

This book makes the government employment look stupid as usual as they cannot beat the forces of ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2016

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This book makes the government employment look stupid as usual as they cannot beat the forces of unemployment around the globe

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