1954 Manpower In The United States-Problems And Policies

Abstract

Pursuit of specific manpower "problems" leads inevitably over the thin line dividing them from the general problem of manpower "policies." And it is perhaps impractical, because they fade one into the other, to distinguish between manpower and general labor policies. In a democratic society policies are compromises with solutions. This also holds for manpower policies. What has been built up in the United States, in a fairly effective if somewhat disorderly way, is a body of flexible manpower practices rather than a rigid structure of legislative controls. They arise out of the exigencies of our economic development and are tempered by our own peculiar history. Sometimes they are late in coming. Frequently they fall short of need. Inevitably they represent compromises between contending institutional groups. Thus policies have not been established for the civilian work force in terms of extensive, absolute controls, even in wartime.