Labor Mobility and Structural Change in Pittsburgh

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Since the 1950s, manufacturing employment in Pittsburgh has declined. Exceptionally sharp declines occurred in the early 1980s. Between 1977 and 1982 about 10 percent of the manufacturing workforce was displaced. Job losers' compensation went down by about 11 percent ($6,430) over the first three years following displacement. At the same time, employment expanded in service-producing industries and average compensation increased sufficiently to boost total payroll. The shift benefited women more than men, although men's earnings in some service jobs reached the levels of those in manufacturing. On balance, restructuring aided Pittsburgh's economy, but there were adjustment problems that merit attention. Because well-paid service jobs require much more education than displaced blue-collar workers possess, it makes sense to help dislocated workers find jobs similar to those they lost. It is possible to do so. About 16 percent of the job vacancies in Pittsburgh between 1977 and 1982 were in manufacturing.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: