Home-based entrepreneurship is attracting growing numbers of recruits to its ranks. These "open-collar workers" come from a variety of backgrounds: lifelong entrepreneurs, homemakers, downsized workers, graduate students, stay-at-home parents, homebound disabled people and retirees. But their goals are similar: to be their own bosses, work flexible hours and devote their efforts to projects they love.

Organized labor is worried about the millions of new "open collar" workers who will be able to do jobs at home that once required an office setting — that may be about 10 percent of our work force by the year 2000.