Chicano issues and cultural perspectives

¶ … Mexican-American Employee: A growing Labor Force

This article suggests that the employment figures for the Mexican-American community is not a pleasant one. The United States has seen its wages for common workers stagnated from 1980's and onwards, this translates into an even more grim picture for those workers who have been living in the country for many decades.

Chicanos also have a very minimal amount of representation at the white-collar or managerial posts and they also get limited opportunities to prove themselves that they are worthy for such a post. It is often termed that newer generation of Chicanos are making steady progress as compared to their parents who immigrated to the U.S. But still they are termed to be falling behind rapidly when judging from the context of the overall opportunity structure that exists in the complete population.

When focusing on the demographics of the U.S., it is seen that the newer immigrant generation is more capable of supporting the industrial base of the national economy as compared to the white population which is growing older and is also known to show less interest in these jobs which are required to support the national economy, here the industries take great use of the immigrant population and provide them the necessary jobs for which the Chicanos are known to be good at.

In terms of education, it is a very common perception that the Chicanos have improved greatly during the past decades as compared to other minority sections of the United States, however this does not translate into a better economic outlook for the overall Mexican-American population since many of them do not do jobs associated with their education and instead choose to follow the footsteps of their ancestors in the line of professional duty. "Chicanos more often tend to follow on the footsteps of their fathers in their relative employment." (Blea, 1988).

There have been many laws passed by the federal government of the United States which assists the minorities especially the Chicanos in attaining more opportunities for the more valued jobs such as opportunities in the field of engineering, science and so on. All of this efforts may term to be successful in the short-term but in the longer run it fails to answer many of the crucial questions regarding the education and employment opportunities for the women in the Mexican-American community which are even more vulnerable than their male counterparts in terms of proper education, employment and so on.

It is often deemed that the collaboration between many different business people, social workers and other non-government organizations is necessary in order to help prepare Chicanos for a much more productive line of duty in the longer term. In this sense there have been many well-known as well as less known private and governmental businesses which have assisted the Chicanos in training and education for employment so that they may posses the required knowledge and skills to support themselves as well as their families in the rapidly changing economic environment around them.