Harold Salzman

Under Construction: The Continuing Evolution of Job Structures in Call Centers

We study inbound call centers in fourteen businesses, using interview-based case studies. Contrary to the notion that U.S. businesses are eliminating job security and internal career tracks, these firms still incorporate these features in their job structures, and in many cases businesses that initially dismantled job and career structures ended up rebuilding them. The paper suggests a more nuanced account of changing job structures that incorporates market, institutional, and agency factors.

Too many cooks? Tracking internal labor market dynamics in food service with case studies and quantitative data

We wish to acknowledge Radha Biswass participation and invaluable research assistance throughout this project. We also thank the Russell Sage and Rockefeller Foundations for financial support.

Technology: More Than Degrees

These proposals miss the mark on four counts: The United States can’t hope to continue producing more scientists and engineers than China and India; a weakness in our educational system is not the main reason we don’t have more scientists and engineers; promising career opportunities for scientists and engineers aren’t a sure thing; and global prosperity will not come from zero-sum competitions to dominate technology development.

Too many cooks?: changing wages and job ladders in the food industry

Consolidation and outsourcing in the food industry have created higher-paying food prep jobs, but also have erected barriers for lower-skilled workers trying to move up the ladder.