After
reading Chapter 17, I was not all that surprised by the causes of long-term
trends in the labor market; however, I was more alarmed by the causes of
short-term trends and shifts in the occupational structure of the workforce. In
regard to the causes of short-term trends, I had never considered the profound
effect of natural disasters on occupations as well as the production and
availability of goods. Not only do natural disasters have a great impact on the
area affected, but they also play an influential role in the economy. As these
disasters continue to occur more rapidly, I feel as though they may not only have
a short-term impact on the labor market but a detrimental long-term impact as
well. Additionally, Brown (2012) points out that war often diverts a large
number of workers from occupational to military assignments; however, with the
ending of the War in Iraq, thousands of soldiers are being sent back to the
U.S. with few open occupations available and even fewer that allow them to
utilize their military training. I see this as a huge problem within our
occupational structure that needs to be addressed before even more troops
return home essentially unemployed. These short-term trends in the labor market
undoubtedly have a tremendous influence of the infrastructure of the labor
market.
I found
the predictions of the future occupational world to be astounding. Brown (2012)
predicts that the majority of the occupations that will be available in 2018
will be mostly health care related; however, he proposes that relatively few
occupations will deal primarily with technology (Brown, 2012). I found this
projection rather unsettling considering that our society has become a wireless
world. We rely so heavily on the use of technology in nearly every facet of the
workplace that it is nearly impossible to find an occupation in today’s world
that does not deal with technology is some way. After reviewing Table 7.2, I
also found it interesting that the majority of the occupations that are
projected to open as a result of growth and replacement are all low-skilled,
low-paying positions (Brown, 2012). This is startling considering that I, as
well as every other student, have invested time, energy, and money on an
education for a future occupational world that may not even be able to utilize
the skills I have acquired. The future of the labor market appears rather
uncertain at best, and it should be noted that workers need not only acquire the
skills, training, and education necessary to acquire a job but to survive.
References
Brown, D. (2012). Career
information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed.). New
York: Pearson Education, Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment