点击查看: In the last 12 years total employment in the United Statesgrew faster than at any time in the peacetime history of any countryfrom 82to 110 million between 1973 and 1985that is, by a full one third. The entiregrowth, however, was in manufacturing, and especially in noblue-collar jobs This trend is the same in all developedcountries, and is, indeed, even more pronounced in Japan. It is therefore highlyprobable that in 25 years developed countries such as the United States andJapan will employ no larger a proportion of the labor force I n manufacturingthan developed countries now employ in farmingat most, 10 percent. Today theUnited Statesemploys around 18 million people in blue-collar jobs in manufacturingindustries. By 2010, the number is likely to be no more than 12 million. Insome major industries the drop will be even sharper. It is quite unrealistic,for instance, to expect that the American automobile industry will employ morethan one third of its present blue-collar force 25 years hence, even thoughproduction might be 50 percent higher. If a company, an industry or a country does notin the next quarter century sharply increase manufacturing production and atthe same time sharply reduce the blue-collar work force, it cannot hope toremain competitiveor even to remain developed. The attempt to preservesuch bluecollar jobs is actually a prescription for unemployment |