[optimistically_conservative]

I think it is absolutely the case that the more hostile the environment is to the employer, the more detached the employer is to his/her employees.

Detaching his employees, especially at the more hostile lower levels where union and government is most intrusive, becomes an economic factor resulting in outsourcing of labor to temps or overseas.

[ninenot]

Yup. It's no secret to Willie, Fitz, APole & others that taxes and regs are killing industry.

But only the larger firms ($50MM+ sales or so) are able to finance an escape to other countries without too much trouble.

It's the small businesses we worry about most.

BTW, managed to open the PDF study on temps. Most interesting finding they had was that the use of temps artificially enhances "productivity" numbers. I shoulda thunka that...

AND--the use of 'temps' has grown immensely since 1992. A little research will tell us which major reg package was shoved through around 1990-1992 that caused THAT problem.