The nation's “new economy,” fueled by dizzying advances in high technology, is proving a mixed bag for workers. On the plus side, it has ushered in a long period of unprecedented national prosperity. But at the same time that corporate coffers are brimming with profits, many employers are changing -- sometimes in mid-career -- the benefits they offer to lure and retain employees. Employers say the changes in traditional pension plans, health insurance and other non-salary “extras” are necessitated by broad shifts in work patterns and demographics, while critics charge they are discriminating against older workers and retirees. With health-care costs on the rise along with worries about Social Security's future, the changes in employee benefits are coming under closer scrutiny in Washington.

Mary H. Cooper specializes in environmental, energy and defense issues. Before joining CQ Researcher as a staff writer in 1983, she was a reporter and Washington correspondent for the Rome daily newspaper l'Unita. She is the author of The Business of Drugs (CQ Press, 1990). She also is a contract translator-interpreter for the U.S. State Department. Cooper graduated from Hollins College in English.