America the World We Know

¶ … America

The world we know today is the result of endless processes of change that emerged in antiquity and have yet to come to an end. These changes are obvious at all levels of the every day life and the most relevant examples could include: the transition from a three storey personal computer to a laptop, the creation of the virtual community where individuals interact on both social and professional levels, the emphasis placed on environmental policies or the changing dynamics of the workforce.

Historically, the main work of individuals would be that of cultivating the land (their own or their landlords'), alongside with fishing, forestry, raising animals or other similar activities. With the occurrence of the first factories and the consequent Industrial Revolution, the number of men working in factories exponentially grew. Throughout the WWII, the men in these factories enrolled in the army and the owners begun to hire women. When the war ended however, the representatives of the female gender would not return to their house chores, but remained to activate in the labor force. Changes of a similar nature occurred relative to the African-Americans' or the Native Americans' part within the labor force market.

Today's workforce is extremely diverse, including individuals of all races which perform a wide variety of tasks. This is often due to the modifications in the economic, political, technological, sociological fields, and so on. Among the most relevant forces of influence, one could pinpoint globalization, immigration, the implementation of a democratic model or the emergence of the corporate power. All these generated mutations in the characteristics of the American work and their analysis is necessary for a full comprehension of the features of the contemporaneous work in the United States.

2. Work in the United States - Statistics

The United States has a population of an estimated 303,824,640. Their age composition is: 20.1% are below the age of 14, 67.1% are between 15 and 64, while only 12.7% are over the age of 65. The median age of the population is of 36.7, with an average for women of 38.1 and an average for men of 35.4. The population is growing at a 0.883% rate and its life expectancy at birth is of 78.14 years.

The labor force in the United States consists of 155.2 million individuals, including both those employed, as well as those who are not currently employed but want to work and are searching for a position. The occupations of the American labor force are broken down into the following:

0.6% in farming, forestry and fishing

22.6% in manufacturing, transportation, extraction and crafts

35.5% in management, technology and professional field

24.8% in sales and office

16.5% in other services

The switch toward a service-based economy is also revealed by the composition of the gross domestic product, which is made up from 1.2% income from the agricultural field, 19.6% income from the industrial field and the remaining 79.2% is generated by the service sector (Central Intelligence Agency, 2009).

In December 2008, the unemployment rate was of 7.2%, following an ascendant trend. By January 2009, it had reached a value of 7.6% (United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009).

3. The Service-Based Economy

As it has been revealed in the previous section, the U.S. economy is primarily based in the service sector. This has numerous implications upon the work in the country. A first of these impacts is the constant increase of the hospitality industry. Including facilities such as restaurants and hotels, this particular service sector is increasing due to the growing number of women choosing to work outside the household. Given that they become integrated in various fields outside the home, women spend less time cooking, cleaning or raising the children. This generates an increased demand for providers of services in the hospitality industry, and consequently a demand for workforces in the respective field (Cohen, 1998).

However, jobs are not only created in the hospitality industry, but also at the overall level of the service industry. The largest need is for highly educated individuals, but the demand for blue-collar workers is also increasing as the "fast-growing knowledge-based services expand" (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development). In the U.S. For instance, in the period 1993-1999, an estimated 20 million jobs were created, 99% of which belonged to the service industry. The service-based economy has also supported the increase in the wage offered to the employee by setting a trend and influencing the minimum wage and the competition for skilled employees. To continue the previous example, out of the job created by the service sector, 81% were in domains that were paying incomes above the national average. "The development of services, which are less capital intensive than manufacturing and benefit more from the increased demand that comes with higher incomes, clearly holds the key to more jobs in economies plagued by structural unemployment. This is partly because some services generate potential jobs for low-skilled workers" (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development).

Another characteristic is that these service sectors are "manned by white-collar workers [and] that most of the industries are labor intensive" (Heskett, 1986). This basically means that the demands for the workforce are generally high and that the employees in the service industry must constantly increase their efforts and performances.

The majority of the new jobs that are being created belongs to the service industry. The structure of the sector is generally constructed in such a manner that it prevents loyalty to the employer. This is generally due to intense competition in both the customer market and the labor force market, but also by the fact that employees in services are often being replaced. "In positions where a service worker is treated as imminently replaceable, where the potential for exploitation originates not only from management, but from customers as well, and where workers are perceived as temporary, notions of a career trajectory or company loyalty do not necessarily apply" (American Sociological Association).

4. Forces which Impact Work in America

Globalization and Immigration

Globalization became the buzzword of the twenty-first century. The concept basically refers to a transfer of information from one location to the other. This information could come from the technological, political, economical or cultural fields. The forces of globalization and market liberalization have generally allowed the transfer of not only information, but also commodities and even people from one country to the other.

Given that the barriers to entry in various locations were lifted, the American entrepreneurs sought to develop partnerships with countries that possessed a comparative advantage. In this order of ideas, they imported cheaper commodities from all over the world, and this generated more jobs within the country as the abundance of resources generated an increased need for labor force.

Aside this positive effect, globalization has also had a negative one upon the native workforce. As the entrepreneurs were able to move their plants to locations which offered cheaper workforce, the plants in the United States closed. This meant that the U.S. workers found themselves unemployed and unable to financially sustain their families. The loss of these jobs will also generate an impact in the future of work as the children of the downsized employees were no longer able to attend schools and get high educations. As a result, they will most likely become blue-collar workers, rather that the white-collar employees they could have become, had it not been for the loss of their parents' jobs.

Globalization also opened the door for the free transfer of human labor. Searching for better lives and striving to fulfil the American dream, individuals from all corners of the world immigrated to the United States. They were willing to work more hours and for less money and as a result, they soon begun to occupy the positions of the native workers. In addition, the forces of immigration can also be blamed for the effects they generated upon the working conditions and environment. As they were willing to comply with lower standards, some company owners lowered the working conditions for the overall organization.

It can however be argued that this force of immigration did not negatively impact the entire American labor force, but forced it to evolve and adapt. In this order of ideas, the immigrants coming to the U.S. were generally given the jobs at the bottom of the industries, which were not only unpleasant to attend at times, but they also paid little money. The Americans were already avoiding these positions and the fact that they were taken by the immigrants meant that the native workers were forced to improve their skills and get better paid jobs. More individuals are now attending night classes or full time colleges and study to become engineers, IT specialists, economists, lawyers or doctors.

Democracy

The democratic model implemented by the highly developed economic powers has also impacted the contemporaneous work in the United States. Just like with globalization and immigration, the opinions on the effects of this force are dual. America has been blamed for its implementation of imperialistic strategies, which made it the major decider in the global economy and the primary generator of the changes in the work characteristics. The activists and other protestors argued that the American model of forced democracy, which extended beyond the boundaries of the state, hurt the freedom of the countries with which the U.S. was interacting, but also that of the American workers, who were often prevented from forming unions that would protect their rights (Friedberg and Rowley, 2000).

Democracy allowed the U.S. employers to take the actions they considered suitable for the achievement of their profitability goals; this often activated in the detriment of the employees' interest. But despite this however, democracy also allowed the dissatisfied workers to voice their concerns and, through freedom of speech, they were able to join forces and demand the resolution of their stringent issues. The employees often militated for "people, not profits" (Friedberg and Rowley, 2000).

Basically, democracy is a model based on freedom and the preservation of the property and individual rights. In the field of work, it meant that employees are able to choose the employer they want to work for, as well as they are able to get the education they desire in order to attaint the wanted professional level. Finally, democracy allows workers to join forces and form unions that safeguard their rights. Employees are also able, due to democracy, to refuse and report the improper treatment received from the employer. Through the implementation of the internal codes of conduct or the punishment of discrimination, democracy has led to the creation of a highly complex and diverse workforce within the United States, a labor force which is able to handle any challenges the global economy may pose.

The Corporate Power

The forces of globalization have also led to the creation of multinational organizations, which in turn created scale economies and severely impacted the communities. The main beneficial effect of the corporations is that they offer consumers goods and services at low prices; however, the majority of the other effects are negative. The power that these dominant institutions have upon the economy is growing at a rapid rate and they have even been assimilated with forces such as the church, the monarchy or the communist party (Archbar and Abbot, 2003).