Employment impact of electronic business

Monthly Labor Review

Volumn 124, Issue 5, 2001, Pages 3-16

  Hecker, Daniel E ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0039638022     PISSN: 00981818     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. See Thomas Mesenbourg, Assistant Director for Economic Programs, Bureau of the Census, "Measuring Electronic Business, Definitions, Underlying Concepts, and Measurement Plans," on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/ ebusines.htm. Computer-mediated networks are electronically linked devices that communicate interactively over network channels. Such devices include computers, personal digital assistants, webTV, Internet-enabled cellular phones, and telephones linked together interactively. Networks include the Internet, intranets, extranets, electronic data interchange networks, and telecommunications networks.
2. Ibid. E-commerce is defined by Mesenbourg as "any transaction completed over a computer-mediated network that involves the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services."
3. B2B includes electronic data interchange (see note 1), which is large and predates commerce on the Internet, but is conducted over private networks, not the Internet.
4. Examples of establishments dealing with both types of clientele include building material and hardware dealers, stationery and office supply stores, banks, and insurance agents.
5. Mesenbourg, "Measuring Electronic Business." Because e-commerce consists of sales activities, it is potentially measurable; many of the other e-business activities mentioned may not be measurable.
6. "Roughly 85 percent of Cisco's 800,000 monthly customer queries are handled via the Web, eliminating the need for thousands of customer-service reps (support specialists)." (See Scott Thurm, "Eating Their Own Dog Food - Internet Builder Cisco Goes Online to Buy, Sell, Hire, Keep Customers Happy," Wall Street Journal, Apr. 19, 2000.
7. See Douglas Braddock, "Occupational employment projections to 2008," Monthly Labor Review, November 1999, pp. 51-77, especially table 1, p. 52.
8. Ibid., p. 53.
9. In the Revised 2000 Standard Occupational Classification Manual, adjustment clerks are subsumed under customer service representatives, whose duties may overlap those of sales representatives, sales clerks, or order clerks. Employers may also report workers who assist e-business customers as working in these occupations.
10. Among selected e-businesses, the percentage of buyers using customer service ranged from 37.5 percent to less than 10 percent, according to Harris Interactive, Inc. (cited in "Reality Bytes," Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2000, p. B8).
11. Research Priorities in Electronic Commerce, report of a National Science Foundation-University of Texas workshop, Jan. 25, 1999; on the Internet at http://crec.bus.utexas.edu/ workshop/ecdraft.html.
12. For example, see "Measuring the Internet Economy," Center for Research in Electronic Commerce, the University of Texas at Austin and Cisco Systems, January 2001, pp. 9-17; on the Internet at www.internetindicators.com and internetindic.html.
13. Online portals are websites that generate income through advertising fees and charges for links to e-commerce sites.
14. "Increased use of the Internet and continued expansion of corporate Intranets will be the principal forces driving the demand for computer equipment (and therefore employment) over the next 5 years." (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000 (New York, the McGraw-Hill Companies and the U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration, 2000), chapters 27 and 31.) However, employment in SIC 357 is projected to decline by 0.3 percent annually from 1998 to 2008, according to BLS projections, despite a 14.5-percent annual growth in output. (See Allison Thomson, "Industry output and employment projections to 2008," Monthly Labor Review, November 1999, pp. 33-50.) The aforecited U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000 also discusses the impact of e-business on many other industries.
15. "Increased use of the Internet and continued expansion of corporate Intranets will be the principal forces driving the demand for computer equipment (and therefore employment) over the next 5 years." (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000 (New York, the McGraw-Hill Companies and the U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration, 2000), chapters 27 and 31.) However, employment in SIC 357 is projected to decline by 0.3 percent annually from 1998 to 2008, according to BLS projections, despite a 14.5-percent annual growth in output. (See Allison Thomson, "Industry output and employment projections to 2008," Monthly Labor Review, November 1999, pp. 33-50.) The aforecited U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000 also discusses the impact of e-business on many other industries.
16. "Increased use of the Internet and continued expansion of corporate Intranets will be the principal forces driving the demand for computer equipment (and therefore employment) over the next 5 years." (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000 (New York, the McGraw-Hill Companies and the U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration, 2000), chapters 27 and 31.) However, employment in SIC 357 is projected to decline by 0.3 percent annually from 1998 to 2008, according to BLS projections, despite a 14.5-percent annual growth in output. (See Allison Thomson, "Industry output and employment projections to 2008," Monthly Labor Review, November 1999, pp. 33-50.) The aforecited U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000 also discusses the impact of e-business on many other industries.
17. Automobile rental and leasing, without drivers (SIC 751), also has at least 20 percent, mostly counter and rental clerks, but e-business may not have a major employment impact on that industry. Industries with 10 percent to 19 percent of employment in marketing and sales occupations include radio and TV broadcasting (SIC 483), telephone and cable communications services (SIC 481), publishing (SIC 271), advertising (SIC 731), and miscellaneous business services (SIC 738).
18. Eating and drinking places (SIC 58), also part of the retail trade group of industries, are much less affected by e-business than are retail stores.
19. Such establishments may also process or repair products or serve food, but these are subordinate activities.
20. Major industry groups include building materials, hardware, and garden supplies (SIC 52); general merchandise, including department stores (SIC 53); food establishments, including grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, and specialty stores (SIC 54); automotive dealers and gasoline service stations (SIC 55); apparel and accessories stores (SIC 56); furniture, home furnishings, appliances, and electronics (SIC 57); and miscellaneous establishments, including drugstores, sporting goods stores, bookstores, stores selling stationery and office supplies, jewelry stores, toy stores, and florists (SIC 59, except 596). To date, e-tailing has taken a more significant share of the market in SIC 57, which includes stores that handle computer hardware and software and prerecorded-audio and -video, and in SIC 59.
21. While Amazon.com has moved to ownership of stock and operation of warehouses, other firms continue to outsource.
22. The Internet arms potential car buyers with massive amounts of information, and margins on Internet-facilitated purchases are significantly lower than on other purchases. (See Susan Helper and John Paul MacDuffie, "E-volving the Auto Industry: E-Commerce Effects on Consumer and Supplier Relationships"; on the Internet at http://e-conomy.berkeley.edu/ conference-main.htm.) This suggests that the industry will employ fewer sales workers.
23. These establishments may also process products, but that function is subordinate to selling.
24. Proposed changes to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for 2002 would define three separate components of industry group 4541, corresponding to SIC 5961: electronic shopping, electronic auctions, and (catalogue and) mail-order houses. (See "North American Industry Classification System - Update for 2000," Federal Register Notice, Apr. 20, 2000; on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/epcd/ www/naics.html.)
25. Data are available only for nonstore retailers (SIC 596).
26. Some jobs would also be lost if fewer or smaller catalogues are used. In the local-delivery grocery store model, delivery is handled in-house, increasing the need for truckdrivers.
27. Ranjay Gulati and Jason Garino, "Get the Right Mix of Bricks and Clicks," Harvard Business Review, May-June 2000, p. 32.
28. U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, pp. 41-4 through 41-6.
29. According to the American Society of Travel Agents, cited in U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, p. 50-8, retail travel agencies sell 80 percent of all airline tickets, book 90 percent of all cruises, and make 25 percent of all hotel reservations.
30. Lori Enos, "Report: Corporate Travel Energizing Online Market," E-commerce Times, Feb. 8, 2001.
31. Full-service brokers now allow substantial discounts in commissions to certain individuals, and most also offer online trading. See On-line Brokerage: Keeping Apace of Cyberspace (Washington, DC, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2000), pp. 18-19.
32. Only workers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may accept telephone orders.
33. Under a new system with Allstate, agents who work exclusively for the company will earn a 10-percent commission on new business and renewals, but only a 2-percent commission on customers who are obtained via the Internet or the firm's 800 number. (See Barbara Bowers, "Allstate: Major Distribution Shift," Best's Review Magazine, May 2000; on the Internet at http://bestreview.com/2000-05/coverallstate.html.)
34. Broadband service is needed to deliver movies. (See Martin Peers, "Video on Demand Arrives - Sort Of," and Anna Wilde Mathews, "Studios Have Their Own Movies-On-Demand Plans," The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 29, 2001, p. B1.)
35. Broadband service is needed to deliver movies. (See Martin Peers, "Video on Demand Arrives - Sort Of," and Anna Wilde Mathews, "Studios Have Their Own Movies-On-Demand Plans," The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 29, 2001, p. B1.)
36. See Bernard Stamler, "Making Face-to-Face Time Possible on the PC," The New York Times, E-Commerce Special Edition, Oct. 25, 2000, p. 24.
37. Helper and MacDuffie, pp. 4-9, 14; and Adrian J. Slywotzky, "The Age of the Choice Board," Harvard Business Review, January-February 2000, and "Getting Rid of Guesswork," Business Week, Aug. 28, 2000, p. 142.
38. Helper and MacDuffie, pp. 4-9, 14; and Adrian J. Slywotzky, "The Age of the Choice Board," Harvard Business Review, January-February 2000, and "Getting Rid of Guesswork," Business Week, Aug. 28, 2000, p. 142.
39. Helper and MacDuffie, pp. 4-9, 14; and Adrian J. Slywotzky, "The Age of the Choice Board," Harvard Business Review, January-February 2000, and "Getting Rid of Guesswork," Business Week, Aug. 28, 2000, p. 142.
40. The NAICS categorizes publishing as an information industry, along with software, motion pictures, music, and broadcasting, while leaving printing within manufacturing.
41. Jack Myers, "Media engine gathers head of steam," Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 2000, p. 1; and "Report: Digital Advertising Set for Rebound," E-Commerce Times, Jan. 26, 2001. Since the 1960s, another electronic medium - network television - has reduced the market for evening newspapers and limited their share of advertising expenditures. Classified advertising accounts for more than 40 percent of the newspaper industry's revenue. Advertising on a publishers' website is provided free or at little charge if the ad also appears in the newspaper's printed edition. Newspaper websites also serve as electronic portals, generating revenue through links to other sites. (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, pp. 25-3, 25-5, and 25-8. For a discussion of the impact of online employment agencies ("job boards") on newspapers, see David H. Autor, Wiring the Labor Market, Working Paper 7959 (Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000). See also John Schwartz, "Marketers Turn to a Simple Tool: E-Mail," The New York Times, special section on e-commerce, Dec. 13, 2000; and Bernard Stamler, "You Want Repeat Customers? Try E-Mail," The New York Times, technology section, Apr. 18, 2001.)
42. Jack Myers, "Media engine gathers head of steam," Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 2000, p. 1; and "Report: Digital Advertising Set for Rebound," E-Commerce Times, Jan. 26, 2001. Since the 1960s, another electronic medium - network television - has reduced the market for evening newspapers and limited their share of advertising expenditures. Classified advertising accounts for more than 40 percent of the newspaper industry's revenue. Advertising on a publishers' website is provided free or at little charge if the ad also appears in the newspaper's printed edition. Newspaper websites also serve as electronic portals, generating revenue through links to other sites. (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, pp. 25-3, 25-5, and 25-8. For a discussion of the impact of online employment agencies ("job boards") on newspapers, see David H. Autor, Wiring the Labor Market, Working Paper 7959 (Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000). See also John Schwartz, "Marketers Turn to a Simple Tool: E-Mail," The New York Times, special section on e-commerce, Dec. 13, 2000; and Bernard Stamler, "You Want Repeat Customers? Try E-Mail," The New York Times, technology section, Apr. 18, 2001.)
43. Jack Myers, "Media engine gathers head of steam," Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 2000, p. 1; and "Report: Digital Advertising Set for Rebound," E-Commerce Times, Jan. 26, 2001. Since the 1960s, another electronic medium - network television - has reduced the market for evening newspapers and limited their share of advertising expenditures. Classified advertising accounts for more than 40 percent of the newspaper industry's revenue. Advertising on a publishers' website is provided free or at little charge if the ad also appears in the newspaper's printed edition. Newspaper websites also serve as electronic portals, generating revenue through links to other sites. (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, pp. 25-3, 25-5, and 25-8. For a discussion of the impact of online employment agencies ("job boards") on newspapers, see David H. Autor, Wiring the Labor Market, Working Paper 7959 (Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000). See also John Schwartz, "Marketers Turn to a Simple Tool: E-Mail," The New York Times, special section on e-commerce, Dec. 13, 2000; and Bernard Stamler, "You Want Repeat Customers? Try E-Mail," The New York Times, technology section, Apr. 18, 2001.)
44. Jack Myers, "Media engine gathers head of steam," Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 2000, p. 1; and "Report: Digital Advertising Set for Rebound," E-Commerce Times, Jan. 26, 2001. Since the 1960s, another electronic medium - network television - has reduced the market for evening newspapers and limited their share of advertising expenditures. Classified advertising accounts for more than 40 percent of the newspaper industry's revenue. Advertising on a publishers' website is provided free or at little charge if the ad also appears in the newspaper's printed edition. Newspaper websites also serve as electronic portals, generating revenue through links to other sites. (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, pp. 25-3, 25-5, and 25-8. For a discussion of the impact of online employment agencies ("job boards") on newspapers, see David H. Autor, Wiring the Labor Market, Working Paper 7959 (Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000). See also John Schwartz, "Marketers Turn to a Simple Tool: E-Mail," The New York Times, special section on e-commerce, Dec. 13, 2000; and Bernard Stamler, "You Want Repeat Customers? Try E-Mail," The New York Times, technology section, Apr. 18, 2001.)
45. Jack Myers, "Media engine gathers head of steam," Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 2000, p. 1; and "Report: Digital Advertising Set for Rebound," E-Commerce Times, Jan. 26, 2001. Since the 1960s, another electronic medium - network television - has reduced the market for evening newspapers and limited their share of advertising expenditures. Classified advertising accounts for more than 40 percent of the newspaper industry's revenue. Advertising on a publishers' website is provided free or at little charge if the ad also appears in the newspaper's printed edition. Newspaper websites also serve as electronic portals, generating revenue through links to other sites. (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, pp. 25-3, 25-5, and 25-8. For a discussion of the impact of online employment agencies ("job boards") on newspapers, see David H. Autor, Wiring the Labor Market, Working Paper 7959 (Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000). See also John Schwartz, "Marketers Turn to a Simple Tool: E-Mail," The New York Times, special section on e-commerce, Dec. 13, 2000; and Bernard Stamler, "You Want Repeat Customers? Try E-Mail," The New York Times, technology section, Apr. 18, 2001.)
46. Jack Myers, "Media engine gathers head of steam," Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 2000, p. 1; and "Report: Digital Advertising Set for Rebound," E-Commerce Times, Jan. 26, 2001. Since the 1960s, another electronic medium - network television - has reduced the market for evening newspapers and limited their share of advertising expenditures. Classified advertising accounts for more than 40 percent of the newspaper industry's revenue. Advertising on a publishers' website is provided free or at little charge if the ad also appears in the newspaper's printed edition. Newspaper websites also serve as electronic portals, generating revenue through links to other sites. (See U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, pp. 25-3, 25-5, and 25-8. For a discussion of the impact of online employment agencies ("job boards") on newspapers, see David H. Autor, Wiring the Labor Market, Working Paper 7959 (Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000). See also John Schwartz, "Marketers Turn to a Simple Tool: E-Mail," The New York Times, special section on e-commerce, Dec. 13, 2000; and Bernard Stamler, "You Want Repeat Customers? Try E-Mail," The New York Times, technology section, Apr. 18, 2001.)
47. Producing original content requires not just writers and graphic artists who are employed in the industry, but many of the self-employed as well. (See Nick Wingfield, "Webzines Join Forces to Survive Net Shakeout," The Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2000, p. B1.)
48. Jennifer Greenstein, "The Web Content Conundrum," The Standard, June 26, 2000; on the Internet at http:// www.thestandard.net/.
49. Rebecca Gardyn, "The Future of Fine Print," American Demographics, May 2000, pp. 26-29.
50. Bob Tedeschi, "Online Retailers Try Printed Catalogues," The New York Times, July 10, 2000.
51. U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, p. 26-6.
52. Clare Saliba, "Report: Shipping Costs Bleed E-tailers Dry," E-Commerce Times, Feb. 9, 2001. Those outsourcing ownership of inventory as well as warehousing rely on wholesalers. (See note 19.)
53. "U.S. Postal Service: Challenges to Sustaining Performance Improvements Remain Formidable on the Brink of the 21st Century (General Accounting Office testimony, Oct. 21, 1999, GAO/T-GGD-00-2), pp. 5-7.
54. Stamler, "Face-to-Face Time"; and Susan Stellin, "Employee Training Without the No-Doz," The New York Times, technology section, Apr. 18, 2001.
55. Stamler, "Face-to-Face Time"; and Susan Stellin, "Employee Training Without the No-Doz," The New York Times, technology section, Apr. 18, 2001.
56. Myers Group, cited in Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 2000; and "Report: Digital Advertising Set for Rebound."
57. Myers Group, cited in Advertising Age, Feb. 14, 2000; and "Report: Digital Advertising Set for Rebound."
58. E-banking relies on automated teller machines (ATM'S) or mail for deposits and withdrawals.
59. Data are available only in the aggregate for SIC 736. (See Peter Capelli, "Making the Most of On-line Recruiting," Harvard Business Review, March 2001, p. 139.)
60. For example, patients have access to MEDLINE, a database of information found in medical journals, through the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health. MEDLINE may be reached on the Internet at http://www4.infotrieve.com/ mewmedline/search.asp or at http://www.medportal.com. (See also Networking Health: Prescriptions for the Internet (National Research Council, February 2000), pp. 38, 57-62; on the Internet at http://stills.nap.edu/books/0309068436/html/.
61. For example, patients have access to MEDLINE, a database of information found in medical journals, through the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health. MEDLINE may be reached on the Internet at http://www4.infotrieve.com/ mewmedline/search.asp or at http://www.medportal.com. (See also Networking Health: Prescriptions for the Internet (National Research Council, February 2000), pp. 38, 57-62; on the Internet at http://stills.nap.edu/books/0309068436/html/.
62. Ibid., chapter 2.
63. Ibid; see also MEDLINE, cited in note 48.
64. Ibid; see also Jennifer Steinhauer, "In a Health Revolution, a Hospital's Baby Steps," and Sandeep Juahar, "Residents Discover a Handy Helpmate," The New York Times, e-Commerce Special Edition, Oct. 25, 2000.
65. Ibid; see also Jennifer Steinhauer, "In a Health Revolution, a Hospital's Baby Steps," and Sandeep Juahar, "Residents Discover a Handy Helpmate," The New York Times, e-Commerce Special Edition, Oct. 25, 2000.
66. Ibid; see also Jennifer Steinhauer, "In a Health Revolution, a Hospital's Baby Steps," and Sandeep Juahar, "Residents Discover a Handy Helpmate," The New York Times, e-Commerce Special Edition, Oct. 25, 2000.
67. Sarah Carr, "Many Professors Are Optimistic on Distance Learning, Survey Says," The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 7, 2000, p. A35. (See also David B. Gordon, ed., The Digital Classroom: How Technology Is Changing the Way We Teach and Learn (Cambridge, MA, Harvard Education Letter, 2000), p. 57; and Lawrence E. Gladieux and Watson Scott Swail, The Virtual University & Education Opportunity (Washington, DC, The College Board, April 1999). Gladieux and Swale state that institutions are likely to find "that online courses are works in progress, requiring ongoing outlays for maintenance, revamping, upgrading, and staff training" (p. 15).)
68. Sarah Carr, "Many Professors Are Optimistic on Distance Learning, Survey Says," The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 7, 2000, p. A35. (See also David B. Gordon, ed., The Digital Classroom: How Technology Is Changing the Way We Teach and Learn (Cambridge, MA, Harvard Education Letter, 2000), p. 57; and Lawrence E. Gladieux and Watson Scott Swail, The Virtual University & Education Opportunity (Washington, DC, The College Board, April 1999). Gladieux and Swale state that institutions are likely to find "that online courses are works in progress, requiring ongoing outlays for maintenance, revamping, upgrading, and staff training" (p. 15).)
69. Sarah Carr, "Many Professors Are Optimistic on Distance Learning, Survey Says," The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 7, 2000, p. A35. (See also David B. Gordon, ed., The Digital Classroom: How Technology Is Changing the Way We Teach and Learn (Cambridge, MA, Harvard Education Letter, 2000), p. 57; and Lawrence E. Gladieux and Watson Scott Swail, The Virtual University & Education Opportunity (Washington, DC, The College Board, April 1999). Gladieux and Swale state that institutions are likely to find "that online courses are works in progress, requiring ongoing outlays for maintenance, revamping, upgrading, and staff training" (p. 15).)
70. Kenneth J. Cooper, "Internet at School Is Changing Work of Students - and Teachers," The Washington Post, Sept 5, 2000, p. A2.
71. The 69-percent figure is from a Training Magazine survey in 1997, cited in U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, p. 49-8. Furthermore, many instructors may be classified as practitioners of the subject they are teaching, rather than as teachers.
72. The 69-percent figure is from a Training Magazine survey in 1997, cited in U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook: 2000, p. 49-8. Furthermore, many instructors may be classified as practitioners of the subject they are teaching, rather than as teachers.
73. Including efficiencies in infrastructure industries, in which e-business also stimulates employment. (For example, see footnote 6, referring to labor savings at Cisco Systems, a provider of infrastructure hardware.)
74. There is also a new industry for Internet publishing and broadcasting and for B2B electronic markets. (See note 22.)