U.S. productivity has improved noticeably in recent years, averaging 4 to 5 percent per year, while the U.S. economy grew by only 3.5 percent. The gain in productivity was due, in large part, to the use of technology, in addition to longer working hours by those who are lucky enough to have jobs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average U.S. worker has added 199 hours to a year since 1973. The United States achieved the per-hour productivity of $32, compared with $38 for Norway, and $34 for Belgium. In other words, U.S. workers are simply working longer, not necessarily better or smarter. They take less annual vacation time (only 10.2 days, on average), compared with 30 days in France and in Germany.

At the same time, a large number of U.S. companies are aggressively outsourcing work to low-wage countries, such as China, India, the Philippines, and Mexico. A 2003 study released by the University of California at Berkeley indicates that as many as 14 million U.S. service jobs are in danger of being shipped overseas.

Who is responsible for this peculiar position that U.S. workers are being forced into? How can U.S. companies meet the new challenge of improving the quality of life for their workers, without sacrificing the companies' relative competitiveness in the marketplace?