Forces Shaping Work and the American Workforce Today

Introduction

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 evident at all levels of everyday life, and the most relevant examples include: the transition from a bulky desktop computer to a laptop, the creation of virtual communities where individuals interact on both social and professional levels, the growing emphasis placed on environmental policies, and the changing dynamics of the workforce.

Historically, the primary work of most individuals involved cultivating the land — their own or their landlord's — alongside fishing, forestry, raising animals, and similar activities. With the rise of the first factories and the consequent Industrial Revolution, the number of men working in manufacturing grew exponentially. During World War II, men in these factories enlisted in the armed forces and owners began to hire women. When the war ended, however, women did not return to household duties but remained active in the labor force. Changes of a similar nature occurred with respect to the roles of African Americans and Native Americans within the labor market.

Today's workforce is extremely diverse, encompassing individuals of all races who perform a wide variety of tasks. This diversity is largely due to transformations in the economic, political, technological, and sociological fields, among others. Among the most significant forces of influence, one can identify globalization, immigration, the implementation of a democratic model, and the emergence of corporate power. All of these have generated fundamental changes in the character of American work, and their analysis is necessary for a full understanding of the contemporary labor landscape in the United States.

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

Work in the United States: Statistics

The labor force in the United States consists of 155.2 million individuals, including both those who are employed and those who are currently unemployed but actively seeking work. The occupational breakdown of the American labor force is as follows:

The shift toward a service-based economy is also reflected in the composition of gross domestic product: 1.2% is generated by the agricultural sector, 19.6% by industry, and the remaining 79.2% by the service sector (Central Intelligence Agency, 2009).

In December 2008, the unemployment rate stood at 7.2%, following an upward trend. By January 2009, it had risen to 7.6% (United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009).

As the statistics above indicate, the U.S. economy is primarily driven by the service sector, and this has numerous implications for the nature of work in the country. One significant impact is the continued growth of the hospitality industry. Encompassing facilities such as restaurants and hotels, this segment of the service sector has expanded due to the growing number of women who choose to work outside the household. As women integrate into various fields beyond the home, they spend less time cooking, cleaning, and raising children. This generates increased demand for service providers in the hospitality industry, and consequently an increased demand for workers in that field (Cohen, 1998).

The Service-Based Economy

Job creation is not limited to the hospitality industry, however; it extends across the entire service sector. The greatest demand is for highly educated individuals, but the need for blue-collar workers is also growing as "fast-growing knowledge-based services expand" (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development). In the United States, for example, an estimated 20 million jobs were created between 1993 and 1999, 99% of which belonged to the service industry. The service-based economy has also contributed to wage growth by influencing the minimum wage and intensifying competition for skilled employees. Of the jobs created by the service sector during that period, 81% were in fields paying above the national average. As the OECD notes: "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."

Another characteristic of the service sector is that it is "manned by white-collar workers [and] that most of the industries are labor intensive" (Heskett, 1986). This means that demand for workers is generally high and that employees in the service industry must continually increase their efforts and performance levels.

The majority of new jobs being created belong to the service industry. The structure of this sector is generally organized in a way that discourages loyalty to employers. This is due partly to intense competition in both the customer market and the labor market, and partly to the fact that service workers are often viewed as easily replaceable. As the American Sociological Association notes: "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."

Globalization became the defining buzzword of the twenty-first century. The concept refers broadly to the transfer of information — technological, political, economic, and cultural — from one location to another. The forces of globalization and market liberalization have generally enabled the movement not only of information, but also of commodities and people across national borders.

As barriers to entry in various markets were lifted, American entrepreneurs sought to develop partnerships with countries that possessed a comparative advantage. In doing so, they imported cheaper commodities from around the world, which in turn generated more domestic jobs as the abundance of resources created increased demand for labor.

However, globalization also had a detrimental effect on the native workforce. As entrepreneurs gained the ability to relocate their plants to countries offering cheaper labor, factories within the United States closed. American workers found themselves unemployed and unable to financially support their families. The long-term consequences extend into the future: children of laid-off workers were often no longer able to attend college and obtain advanced education. As a result, many are likely to enter blue-collar occupations rather than the white-collar careers they might otherwise have pursued.

Globalization also facilitated the free movement of human labor across borders. Drawn by the promise of better lives and the American dream, individuals from around the world immigrated to the United States. Willing to work longer hours for less pay, immigrants began to occupy positions previously held by native workers. Additionally, because many immigrants were willing to accept lower working standards, some employers reduced working conditions for their organizations as a whole.