The Drucker Lectures: Essential Lessons on Management, Society and Economy

3The Problems of Maintaining Continuous and Full Employment1957

There are three major forces in an industrial economy today that exert pressure toward making employment continuous and stable:

• The first is social pressure, especially through organized trade unions. Some suggest that it is natural that the worker should give stable employment first place among his cares and hopes. In the United States, this is a considerable overstatement; such things as wage levels, working hours, and opportunities for advancement are likely to rank as high among the “care and hopes” of many workers in this country as does stable employment. And while “natural,” stable employment is a recent concern of the worker. Only 30 years ago, wages and working conditions ...