Brown’s (2012) chapter on trends in the labor market was
informative. Even as we are just
starting grad school or we are about to finish; it is important to understand
the factors that shape the labor market both in the present and projected
outcomes for the future. The two
sections that I found to be most interesting in the chapter were the population
factors and the projections for the future.
I feel that Brown mentioned an important topic that has been
a debate between people for years; which is the amount of illegal immigrants in
this country. Many people in this
country have different opinions on how immigrants who are working illegally
should be handled. According to Brown, “Some
Americans want to close the boarders and deport all illegal workers. Others wish to establish a procedure by which
these workers can become legitimate” (Brown, 2012, pg. 367). Although I do not know all the ins and outs
of how immigration works; I do believe that there should be a program put in
place for some of these people to gain citizenship and work legally in this
country. I say this because many of the
jobs performed by this population are typically lower paying jobs that deal
with some type of manual labor. What I
find interesting is the people that I have met who believe immigrants should be
deported are those people that would never work in a type of job that these
people are performing. If Americans do
not want the jobs; then why not offer them to people who are willing to work
hard and are trying to provide for the families like everyone else? A program like this would not only help the
workers but it would also help their children who are trying to earn an
education in this country. Everyone
always states that the United States is a place for opportunity and growth; but
are we really following that motto? There
should be a way to help illegal immigrants and “Once they become legitimate
parts of the labor force, workers who are now illegal will be in a better
position to demand appropriate pay and working conditions, which they rarely
receive at this time” (Brown, 2012, pg. 367).
To switch gears; the section on the projections for the
future came as somewhat of a surprise to me.
Within the past ten years; technology has developed and changed
tremendously, and people have been saying that’s where all the future jobs will
be. However, looking at table 17.2 in
the chapter seems to portray the opposite. Most of the jobs that are projected to have
growth in the next six years are mainly in the human services field. Jobs such as cashiers, registered nurses,
teachers, and general managers are on this list of projected growth. After having discussions about occupational
trends in class; this concept makes more sense to me. Although technology is growing; many professions
have found ways for their companies to run without actual human beings
working. This idea sparked in
interesting conversation in our small group discussion about occupational
trends. Someone brought up the topic of
soft skills and how they think it will be important in the future. After reading this chapter, I could not agree
more. However, this makes me nervous for
the upcoming generation of workers.
Students’ in schools today are so driven by technology that many of them
are lacking soft skills. It will be
interesting to see how much technology will play a role in the lives of future
workers. In the near future and now;
school counselors and career counselors will play an important role when
working with their clients and discussing future career planning and goals;
“Whether one is assisting sixth graders to become more familiar with
occupations generally, high school graduates to initiate job searches, workers
with disabilities to more to compatible jobs, or structurally unemployed workers
to find new directions, both helper and client need information about the
present and future structure of the world of work as well as about likely
change in the near and distant future” (Brown, 2012, pg. 371).
Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and
career development. (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
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