Which two developments changed employment models in the late 20th century?

• A. Globalization of commerce and expansive growth of technology
• B. Globalization of commerce and increased vacation time
• C. Growth of agriculture and manufacturing
• D. Globalization of commerce and more unionization

Answer: (A)

The change in how people work came from two big forces working together: globalization and rapid technological growth. Globalization of commerce spread markets, production, and services across borders, so companies began relying on teams and suppliers that are spread around the world. To manage this efficiently, they turned to flexible hiring—outsourcing, temporary or contract work, and project-based staffing—so they could scale up or down quickly in different regions. At the same time, expansive growth of technology provided the tools to coordinate distant workers, automate tasks, and share information instantly. Computers, networks, and later the internet made it feasible to manage global teams, monitor performance, and rely on non-traditional work arrangements without sacrificing productivity.

Because of these twin changes, employment models shifted away from long-term, single-employer, full-time roles toward more flexible, tech-enabled arrangements that could operate across borders. The other options don’t fit as well: increased vacation time isn’t a driver of changing employment structures; growth of agriculture and manufacturing points to earlier economic waves rather than the late-20th-century shift; and higher unionization generally declined in many economies during that period, not driving the new employment patterns.