The Fissured Workplace

Book cover of The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It

Book description

For much of the twentieth century, large companies employing many workers formed the bedrock of the U.S. economy. Today, as David Weil's groundbreaking analysis shows, large corporations have shed their role as direct employers of the people responsible for their products, in favor of outsourcing work to small companies that…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Fissured Workplace as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Benjamin C. Waterhouse

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This book—written by a scholar who also works in government—is both infuriating and enlightening. It takes on the real problem of precarious, poorly paid jobs and, by getting way into the weeds of how companies are organized, gives a clear explanation for how so many jobs became so bad and at least some hope for a policy fix. The root of the problem, Weill shows, is basically outsourcing: large companies hire out jobs (cleaners, security, customer service) to low-paying, often badly managed small companies, and that drives down wages, benefits, and job security. The most insane examples of this occur…

From Benjamin's list on why corporations are powerful but economy stinks.