Work (Sociology) the Service Industry

Work (Sociology)

The service industry accounts for 79% of the country's GDP, as reported by the CIA, and is growing evidenced by the dominance of service companies over manufacturing in the current list of Fortune 500 companies (Service Economy, n.d.). Caldwell (2008) believes that our society has already transitioned to a service economy arguing that "the jobs of the future' that were promised 20 years ago are here." To an individual, the shift translates to "a change from 'good' to 'bad' jobs" (the American Workplace - the Shift to a Service Economy, n.d.) which arises from the fact that the "average pay is generally lower for jobs in services than in traditional goods, [that] services workers often end up worse off economically than before" (Gibbs, Kusmin and Cromartie, 2004). The country is experiencing an economic decline seen by the sellout of assets to foreign corporations, decline of vital industries due to bankruptcy, home foreclosures due to sub-prime lending among many others. Not only is society affected but individuals - most of who depend on their low-paying jobs in the service sector - who have to struggle and bear with the situation. Kochan (2004) argued that the country "needs a well educated, motivated, and innovative workforce that is employed in organizations that treat workers' knowledge and skills as assets and sources of competitive advantage rather than just as costs to be controlled" (p.1). His solution for a smoother transition is by the integration of education, workplace, and family policies under the premises that (1) individuals need life-long learning (2) labor market institutions need to cover a large amount of the cost of life-long learning.