Trabalho, práticas de emprego e eficiência produtiva: aspectos da experiência norte-americana recente

This paper is aimed at Identifying new employment practices developed in USA since the early eighties. It is particularly concerned with the factors that induce productive efficiency. The article assumes that the development of employment practices, in order to increase productivity and competitiveness, is based on workers cooperation and involvement in the production process, on the one hand, and on employment security and social equity, on the other. Evidence actually shows that a proportion of industrial establishments in USA have introduced new forms of work organization as well as human resources management. This represents a break with the employment practices prevailing under fordist accumulation regime. The diffusion of work teams, and of quality circles, as well as of new practices as regards to education and trainning of the labor force, combined with new forms of performance related pay, suggest a reshaping of the USA industrial relations away from those of the Golden Age. Nevetheless researches show that features of the past still persist. This is the case of lack of employment security, the intensity of supervision at workplace level as well as the conflictual character of labor relations. The paper suggests that the new employment practices carne alongside the old ones, the later hindering both the diffusion of the former and the increase of productive efficiency.This paper is aimed at Identifying new employment practices developed in USA since the early eighties. It is particularly concerned with the factors that induce productive efficiency. The article assumes that the development of employment practices, in order to increase productivity and competitiveness, is based on workers cooperation and involvement in the production process, on the one hand, and on employment security and social equity, on the other. Evidence actually shows that a proportion of industrial establishments in USA have introduced new forms of work organization as well as human resources management. This represents a break with the employment practices prevailing under fordist accumulation regime. The diffusion of work teams, and of quality circles, as well as of new practices as regards to education and trainning of the labor force, combined with new forms of performance related pay, suggest a reshaping of the USA industrial relations away from those of the Golden Age. Nevetheless researches show that features of the past still persist. This is the case of lack of employment security, the intensity of supervision at workplace level as well as the conflictual character of labor relations. The paper suggests that the new employment practices carne alongside the old ones, the later hindering both the diffusion of the former and the increase of productive efficiency