Kathleen Barker and Kathleen Christensen (eds.), Contingent Work: American Employment Relations in Transition, Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1998, paper £14.95, viii+350 pp.

S. A. Herzenberg, J. A. Alic and H. Wial, New Rules for a New Economy: Employment and Opportunity in Postindustrial America, Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1998, $26.50, xiii+216 pp.

Without question work systems in the United States are undergoing a far-reaching transformation that is altering the terms, conditions and perceptions of employment. The breaking down of career ladders, growth of outsourcing, and rise in the number of workers holding ‘non-standard’ work contracts suggest that employers are adopting a variety of strategies to organise and manage work. But while there is general agreement that workplace transformation is underway, there is little consensus about what it means. The two books reviewed here are welcome additions to a growing body of research that is aimed at documenting change in work systems, and addressing the public-policy implications of this change. Both volumes are written for policy analysts as well as for academic researchers. The result is an approach that will be accessible to readers with more general interests in employment policy.