Service Economy

BOSTON -- It is 8: 30 in the morning and I am standing at a gas station in a silk suit with an unusual fashion accessory dangling from my right hand: a gasoline hose.I am poised (for disaster) at this petroleum establishment which boasts of ''self-service'' -- which is to say, no service, because there is no longer any station on my corner which has ''full service,'' which is to say, any service.At precisely 8: 33, the hose balks, the gas leaps from its point of destination and proceeds to decorate my skirt in a fashion familiar to Jackson Pollack fans.

It dawned on me last weekend while waiting three hours for a cable TV repairman that for all the talk of this country's transition to a "service" economy, service in this country has never been worse. Corporate cost-cutting and downsizing have taken their toll in most every industry. From airports to shopping malls, you can hear the story from workers at every level: "We have five people to do the work of 10 and so we're overworked, underpaid and fear layoffs are coming." The term "customer service" usually means sending customers to a Web site or a call center half a world away.

Consider two headlines from Oct. 18, 1993. The first, in the Financial Times of London, declared that, due to low productivity, 400,000 European automobile parts workers stood to lose their jobs in the next few years.The second, in USA Today, reported on the Golden State Warriors' offer to pay 20-year-old Chris Webber, who had yet to log a minute on a professional basketball court, $74.4 million for his services over the next 15 years.Odd thing is, the headlines make perfect sense.It's a new economy, and many people haven't gotten used to it. "A helluva world," they exclaim, "where almost a half-million 'real men' get canned, and some near-teen-ager gets rich."

The days of Denzella Chapman's life churn like this: take pre-dawn bus downtown; clean Peabody Institute until 2:30 p.m.; ride bus back home for short break; catch downtown subway an hour later; clean Charles Center until 9 p.m.; take subway back home; collapse. Her reward: about $18,000 a year and bunions, which she had surgically removed this month. "I think it's from being on my feet so much," said Chapman, 56. "I'd rather have one job and not have to work two jobs." Despite economic good times, low unemployment and rising wages in other industries, Chapman and her colleagues linger on the bottom tier of the job market.

An unexpected villain has emerged from the budget crisis in Annapolis: Maryland's service economy.The service sector, which long ago displaced manufacturing at the center of Maryland's economy, stands accused of pilfering the state treasury. Politicians and observers inside and out of the state circle blame it for at least part of the state's budget shortfalls.But experts say it's a bum rap. The shift to services, though profound, really has little to do with the current budget problem."That's ridiculous," says economist Charles W. McMillion.

WASHINGTON -- The United States now has more bureaucrats than factory workers.That fact belies the preaching of national leaders -- and could have a profound effect on the future of the American economy.In 1980, when Ronald Reagan was first elected president, 16.3 million people worked for the federal, state and local governments. By last month, the number had risen to 18.6 million. During the same time, the number of U.S. manufacturing workers fell to 18.2 million from 20 million.Despite continued pleas for a smaller government by Mr. Reagan and his successor President Bush, the federal payroll rose 8 percent to 3 million people from 2.8 million between 1980 and 1991.

Early in the next millennium, part-time work will likely be the norm in the United States rather than the exception. If properly planned, part-time employment can be a win-win proposition for employers and employees.About 20 percent of today's workers hold a part-time job, but trends will cause that share to increase for both white-collar and blue-collar employment. Several reasons exist for the shift, including continued growth in the service component of our economy.Meanwhile, demand patterns will remain highly individual and variable, the pressures of worldwide competition will increase and Americans will continue to demand individual lifestyle choices.

So how did Maryland manage to get itself into such a financial mess?Shifting employment trends, a tax system that does not address some economic changes and a nationwide economic recession all played a role in the continuing saga of the state's budget deficit.So has residents' support for certain programs, some of which the state agreed to pay for during the economic heyday of the 1980s.All together, those factors forced the governor and legislature to cut $660 million from the budget before July.

LEESBURG, Va. -- The economy will continue expanding throughout the year, the chief economist for T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. said yesterday.Paul W. Boltz also said he expects the Federal Reserve Board to trim interest rates in the near future."

Rodney Trump -- behind the wheel of a General Motors automobile, of course -- cranks down the window and announces that, if you don't mind, he won't be turning the air-conditioning on. It's a waste of energy, especially on such a mild, late-summer day as this. And, perhaps more important, Trump says, it's good to sweat. "A little perspiration makes a person feel alive," he says.Trump is president of United Auto Workers Local 239, a true believer in the spirit of unionism and a salty critic of the forces that have undercut the working class over the last two decades.

For most of the past century what was made on the third floor was simple, definable product: Cans. They were stamped from sheets of metal, churned out with blunt efficiency: hundreds per minute, millions per week, hundreds of millions per year. Working on the third floor of Building 3 of the American Can Co. on Boston Street meant you and your future were also definable. You were union. Your job was to perform one repetitive, mind-numbing task, sometimes for decades. You worked on a floor that sometimes stole fingers and always sounded like a jackhammer: rhythmic, staccato pops that could be heard for blocks when the windows were open on summer days.

The rabbit broke from the clump of scrub at my father's feet -- a scrambling streak of brown against a grassy backdrop of mottled greens and umber. Startled, my 11-year-old heart leaped, and I froze with a shotgun in my hands.In a smooth arc, my dad drew his .22-caliber revolver from its holster and fired a single shot that caught the rabbit on the fly and sent it tumbling into a heap of stew meat. One shot. At a range of 10 yards. With a pistol, no less."Better to miss than not shoot at all," he said, as he holstered the gun. "You think about it too long, and the chance will be gone."

Front-running Democratic mayoral candidates were quizzed on how they would restructure Baltimore city services as part of a downtown forum last night at the Enoch Pratt Free Central Library.Before 300 people, WJHU-FM radio host Marc Steiner also asked six candidates questions on crime, economic development and eradicating drugs.Northeast City Councilman Martin O'Malley spoke first, saying he would divide the city housing agency into two. Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III serves as the chief administrator for the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City.

Early in the next millennium, part-time work will likely be the norm in the United States rather than the exception. If properly planned, part-time employment can be a win-win proposition for employers and employees.About 20 percent of today's workers hold a part-time job, but trends will cause that share to increase for both white-collar and blue-collar employment. Several reasons exist for the shift, including continued growth in the service component of our economy.Meanwhile, demand patterns will remain highly individual and variable, the pressures of worldwide competition will increase and Americans will continue to demand individual lifestyle choices.

BOSTON -- It is 8: 30 in the morning and I am standing at a gas station in a silk suit with an unusual fashion accessory dangling from my right hand: a gasoline hose.I am poised (for disaster) at this petroleum establishment which boasts of ''self-service'' -- which is to say, no service, because there is no longer any station on my corner which has ''full service,'' which is to say, any service.At precisely 8: 33, the hose balks, the gas leaps from its point of destination and proceeds to decorate my skirt in a fashion familiar to Jackson Pollack fans.

LEESBURG, Va. -- The economy will continue expanding throughout the year, the chief economist for T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. said yesterday.Paul W. Boltz also said he expects the Federal Reserve Board to trim interest rates in the near future."

IF YOU think America has become a nation of haves and have-nots, just wait. The arrival of the much-heralded information superhighway will only worsen the trend.In the 1980s America became more unequal, for several reasons. A factory economy with a broad, blue-collar middle class increasingly gave way to a service economy -- a polarized category that includes more fast-food workers and more investment bankers.Trade unions were significantly weakened. Economic globalization put unskilled U.S. workers into direct competition with workers overseas who do the same jobs for lower pay.Government stopped leaning against the wind.

It dawned on me last weekend while waiting three hours for a cable TV repairman that for all the talk of this country's transition to a "service" economy, service in this country has never been worse. Corporate cost-cutting and downsizing have taken their toll in most every industry. From airports to shopping malls, you can hear the story from workers at every level: "We have five people to do the work of 10 and so we're overworked, underpaid and fear layoffs are coming." The term "customer service" usually means sending customers to a Web site or a call center half a world away.

Consider two headlines from Oct. 18, 1993. The first, in the Financial Times of London, declared that, due to low productivity, 400,000 European automobile parts workers stood to lose their jobs in the next few years.The second, in USA Today, reported on the Golden State Warriors' offer to pay 20-year-old Chris Webber, who had yet to log a minute on a professional basketball court, $74.4 million for his services over the next 15 years.Odd thing is, the headlines make perfect sense.It's a new economy, and many people haven't gotten used to it. "A helluva world," they exclaim, "where almost a half-million 'real men' get canned, and some near-teen-ager gets rich."

IF YOU think America has become a nation of haves and have-nots, just wait. The arrival of the much-heralded information superhighway will only worsen the trend.In the 1980s America became more unequal, for several reasons. A factory economy with a broad, blue-collar middle class increasingly gave way to a service economy -- a polarized category that includes more fast-food workers and more investment bankers.Trade unions were significantly weakened. Economic globalization put unskilled U.S. workers into direct competition with workers overseas who do the same jobs for lower pay.Government stopped leaning against the wind.