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Throughout the past few years, companies have been focusing more on a team-based structure. It is this structure that Americans seem to have the most difficulty adapting to. Acuff (1997,p.10) found that " Americans are the most individualistic and less team-oriented culture in the world". What causes this team-based structure to fail in America? I have been questioning this issue, but I can only come up with one conclusion: the work force 2000 is to blame.
What is the workforce 2000? .
The workforce 2000 is the incoming flow of workers who are bombarded with continuously changing roles. According to the US Department of Labor (Labor Day 2000) The workforce has expanded nearly 5-fold during the 20th century, from 28 million in 1900 to139 million in1999. Many people have been forced to enter the workplace because of the rising cost of living. People are finding it difficult to maintain a standard of living off a single income-based home. The rise of divorce is forcing housewives out into the workplace. The total numbers of U.S. divorces reported are 957,200 in 2000, 944,317 in 1999, and 947,384 in 1998 (Americans for Divorce Reform,2001). The constant flow of job changing is a good example of how this workforce perceives the workplace. According to US Department of Labor (Labor Day 2000), The average U.S. citizen holds 9.2 jobs from the age of 18 to 34. Many of these people become overwhelmed by all the new technological advancements when they return to the workforce. The average American feels pressure to keep up in society so they place little focus on their job. Americans feel lost in the shuffle and are leaning towards their self-preservation. These overwhelming stresses and new advancements have given birth to the workforce 2000. .
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