Under Construction: Work and Alienation in the Building Trades

companies, Noyelle shows that responses to human resource problems were catalysts for changing the structure of internal labor markets. At R.H. Macy & Co., it was the transformation of the managerial structure and new inventory controls; at New York Telephone, it was changing electronic skill requirements and the need for aggressive affirmative action policies; and at an insurance company, it was the diffusion of data processing. In all three cases, however, there was a clear relationship between the internal labor market transformation and the intensification of product market competition. Although I found the essays on the changing structure of internal labor markets provocative and the three case studies well crafted, I thought the linkages among them were relatively weak and not well developed. Nevertheless, I do recommend this book to anyone who is trying to understand the changes under way in labor market structures and their implications for employment opportunity and stability.