Downgrading Computer Workers

Abstract

The growth of computers has led to contradictory expectations about the downgrading of the computer labor force. This article tests three implications of the downgrading argument using data from Public Use Samples: the changing mix of computer occupations between professional/technical and clerical jobs; the changing prestige distinctions among computer workers; and the mobility among higher and lower skilled categories. The findings show that industrial diffusion has substantial implications for the downgrading argument. Overall, the patterns of change over time are far more complex than a simple upgrading-downgrading dimension would suggest.