According to CIBC World Markets, a large corporate bank operating throughout the world, the quality of jobs available in the United States has decreased dramatically over the past three years. Their Employment Quality Index (EQI) measures job stability, relative compensation, and part-time vs. full-time employment, arriving at a combined number that has decreased 8 points over the last three years. CIBC reports that this reflects a trend towards lower-paying, less stable, self-employed, and part-time jobs--all of which are replacing higher paying jobs. The findings are significant in that they confirm what activists and unions have been saying for years, specifically that the higher paying jobs are being replaced by service industry jobs.

No mention of the shift towards low-paying service industry jobs would be complete without citing Wal-Mart a company that is notorious for its lack of benefits, low wages, and fighting the unionization of its workforce. Wal-Mart's high profitability and low wages are seen by many corporate executives as a future model of business, however, it is a model that has come under attack in recent years. While labor unions have made little progress in organizing Wal-Mart workers, attention has been drawn to the company's low wages and aggressive and pro-sprawl business practices, prompting a rise in anti-walmart sentiment around the country. Adding to this criticism is a recent proposal by SIEU president Andrew Stern that organizing Wal-Mart workers should be a major priority as well as a class action lawsuit representing 1.6 million women who were discriminated against while working for Wal-Mart.