Catherwood LibraryILR School

Despite the risks inherent in a weak job market, an increasing number of Americans are deciding---for a diverse range of reasons---that family comes first, and employers will just have to deal with it. Among the causes of this shift in value systems are declining employee loyalty caused by the decline of lifetime employment, a baby boomer generation that is caught taking care of children and parents, reevaluation of what matters in life after the tragedy of 9/11, and disillusionment caused by corporate scandals. The result is a growing conflict between companies? attempts to increase productivity by getting longer hours out of workers without paying more and cutting vacation and personal days (see WIT?s for Oct. 29 and July 1, 2002), and employees fed-up with being asked to put their job ahead of their family life.