The Death of the American Way of Work: How the United States Lost Its Grip on the Future

In 1963, Jessica Mitford published her remarkable account of the American funeral industry, An American Way of Death. Over sixty years later, another distinguished Englishwoman, the workplace futurist Julia Hobsbawm, is announcing the death of the American way of work. Whereas Mitford exposed the predatory practices of funeral directors, Hobsbawn reveals how corporate America has become equally disconnected from reality—clinging to outdated workplace models while other nations innovate. From Thomas Edison's countless inventions to Henry Ford's revolutionary assembly line, Hobsbawm notes, America dominated innovative 20th century work practices. But as countries like the UAE introduce more flexible policies than Silicon Valley, and demographic shifts reshape global labor markets, American corporations are "sleepwalking into disaster” by failing to adapt to both generational changes and to the post-pandemic workplace revolution.

1. America's Century of Workplace Dominance Is Ending

"I've always thought that America has dominated a century of the way the world works. I mean, everything we live and work on from, you know, the computer or the credit card or the communications industry, the car, it's all been American."

Hobsbawm argues that while America invented modern work culture—from Edison's innovations to Ford's assembly lines—its grip on workplace leadership is slipping as other nations pioneer new approaches.

2. Corporate America Is in Denial About Post-Pandemic Reality

"There is a desire on behalf of boards, corporate leaders, large corporates to, quote unquote, go back, to be quite rosy tinted in their spectacle view of what the past of work looked like."

She warns that American executives are refusing to acknowledge how fundamentally the pandemic changed worker expectations, instead clinging to outdated models while demanding returns to traditional office structures.

3. Other Countries Are Now Leading Workplace Innovation

"On the 1st of April this year the UAE introduced pretty much the most flexible working policies anywhere in the world, outside of the Nordics and the UK... America is weaker in the culture of work and the workplace policies around flexibility."

Nations once considered less progressive are now outpacing Silicon Valley on workplace flexibility, while American companies retreat from forward-thinking policies.

4. The One-Size-Fits-All Model Is Dead

"There is now a complete disaggregation of what norm is. And that is what is so difficult for businesses and corporations... you cannot impose a one-size-fits-all."

Hobsbawm identifies this as "the Achilles heel of the American way of work"—the inability to adapt to diverse, individualized worker needs across different generations and cultures.

5. Work Change Is the Defining Challenge of Our Time

"Work change is the new climate change. Every single workplace, every single worker, every single workforce, every single city product is going to be changed continuously."

She positions workplace transformation as the most critical issue facing society, requiring the same urgency and comprehensive response as climate change.