Rosemary Batt

Rosemary Batt, assistant professor of human resources at the Industrial and Labor Relations School, Cornell University, will write a book on the quality of jobs and advancement opportunities for low-skilled service and sales workers in the telecommunications industry. While the popular press often depicts these jobs as low-paying, dead-end positions, much of the management literature heralds them as high-skilled opportunities leading to advancement in the new information economy. Batt's research, however, shows a continuum in the quality of telecommunications jobs and explores a variety of factors driving mobility and job quality: management practices, work/family policies, and career strategies of individual workers. She will also analyze the kinds of public polices and intermediary institutions needed to facilitate job search and training in the industry.