The theme of Jeremy Rifkin's The End of Work is that global culture is entering a new phase: one where fewer and fewer workers are needed to produce the goods and services for the global population (p. xvii). He maintains the world is entering a new age of global markets and automated production (p. 292). His analysis examines the technological innovations and market-directed forces he argues are moving us into a "near workerless world" and he explores this technological revolution in an attempt to address the problems he believes will accompany the transition (p. xvii).
Rifkin concludes it is still within our power to harness this revolution in a direction beneficial to a majority of American workers. Many analysts have covered the material he covers in this book, thus, the material and concepts he addresses, such as the growing gap between rich and poor, are likely to be familiar to the reader. However, Rifkin's socio-historical perspective, in which he offers documentary evidence to support his analysis, is largely convincing. The fact that most readers will likely be familiar with the massive layoffs in the recent past will also provide support for his conclusion. Nonetheless, he fails largely to offer any new insights into the problems of the technological revolution.
One of the underlying tenets Rifkin reveals is that the technological revolution is creating two very different Americas: the haves and the have-nots (p. 177). Furthermore, he states the revolution could exacerbate the growing tensions between rich and poor and further divide the nation into two incompatible and increasingly warring camps. He notes industry analysts blame the escalating poverty on intense global competition and changes in technology (p. 180).
Rifkin argues the changes in technology driving the change in the global workplace have increased the volume and accelerated the flow of information as well as the flow of activity at every l...