Chapter 1
In: Professional Power and Skill Use in the 'Knowledge Economy'
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Abstract
This chapter traces changes in the distribution of occupations and employment class positions in advanced capitalist economies using the best available cross-national ILO data since 1990 on employment status and occupations in G7 and Scandinavian countries as well as longer data series from Canada. The clearest occupational change has been the growth of those with professional titles. But occupations are far from identical with employment classes. As professionals become more numerous, it also becomes more evident that they are found in quite different class positions: namely professional employers, self-employed professionals, professional managers and non-managerial professional employees. The changing general employment class structure in these countries is documented as well as the development and distribution of professional classes. An initial profile of differences between professional classes in workplace power is presented as a basis for more careful research on professional power.