KEY CONTROVERSIES AND CONCERNS

The remaining chapters in this book address some of the major
controversies that result from the globalization of labor markets.

Chapter 2 discusses the relationships between globalization
and employment. Here the controversies relate to employment

security (as jobs are being moved from country to country), the

quality of employment (working conditions), and the growth

of offshoring (the shift of production and business services to

lower-wage economies).

Chapter 3 examines trends in earnings during the global

era. The principal controversy in this area relates to growing

inequality, particularly between the highly skilled and the less

skilled, and whether this can be attributed to globalization.

They will consider both globalization and other factors such

as technological change, which can help explain growing

income inequality.

Chapter 4 they turn to look inside the firm and the ways

in which labor relations may be expected to change as a result

of globalization. The principal controversy them consider in

this area is whether the power of organized labor has been

adversely affected by the growing importance of global economic

relationships.

Chapter 5 tackles the related issue of how the management

task is likely to change when operations are increasingly

managed globally. The job of management is expected to

become more complex and demanding. The power of collective

approaches to management suggests a move towards

team and project organization.

The key issue to be evaluated here is whether the nature

of management work has changed and if a group of so-called

global managers will emerge.

The considerable controversies that globalization has

created for labor have resulted in calls for public policy interventions

to try to redress the problems. This is the subject of

Chapter 6. The key issues here are whether such intervention

is warranted, how effective it is likely to be, and what are the

best forms of intervention.

Chapter 7 provides an overview of the issues they have examined

in the previous chapters. It should be apparent that these

controversies are complex and involve issues that are not easy

Introduction to Globalization and Labor 19

to understand. Furthermore, they are not straightforward in

interpretation.Assumptions that we make about how the world

works (or should work) affect our interpretations. Perhaps the

most important lesson you can draw from our discussion is that

these are extremely important issues that affect or will affect all

of us, directly and indirectly.

CONCLUSION

This chapter has introduced the area of globalization and labor.

They have suggested that this is both a complex and an important

topic. It is complex because of the myriad ways in which

globalization is likely to impact on labor, the difficulties of

generalizing these effects, and the sensitivity of assumptions

made. Nevertheless, it is an important topic because most of

them will spend some time, often a lifetime, in the labor market.

What they are likely to experience in the global era of the early

21st century should be a concern for all of them.