We all know occupations have changed a lot, but a new Monthly Labor Review article spells out just how much. Here's a summary Occupational changes during the 20th century, by Ian D Wyatt and Daniel E. Hecker:
With occupation data from the 2000 census now available, it is an appropriate time to analyze occupational employment trends over the 20th century. The shift from a workforce composed mostly of manual workers to one comprising mostly white-collar and service workers is generally known. This article reveals just how radical that shift has been.
Professional, managerial, clerical, sales, and service workers (except private household service workers) grew from one-quarter to three-quarters of total employment between 1910 and 2000. Laborers (except mine laborers), private household service workers, and farmers lost the most jobs over the period.
One of the more interesting charts shows how managers remained steady at around 7% of the workforce for the first seven decades of last century, then doubled in the past three decades. Are we really all being managed twice as much, or is there some defibitional problem?
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