Traditional Roles of Work and the changing composition of the labor force

What Does Work Look Like? The process of Socialization continues into adulthood, focusing in the workplace Compare and contrast these two scenes: The Office Mad Men Composition of the Workplace Male and Female Women went from holding 37% to 47% of jobs over the last 40 years Increasingly Multicultural Chinese student enrollment in U.S. universities up 21% in % of U.S. businesses owned by minorities By 2050 there will be no racial or ethnic majority in the United States

The Role of Work Americans value hard work The Protestant Work Ethic We began as an Agrarian society (Agricultural) Technological advancements in food production and industry allowed the shift of agricultural workers from farms to factories (Industrial Revolution) People moved to cities (Urbanization) Manufacturing exploded at the end of WW2 Fueled by discoveries in computer science and their application to new technologies, the U.S. economy moved from a manufacturing to a knowledge, or information, focus (1980’s and 1990’s)

How Does It Affect Me? Global Markets The increasing connectedness of the global economy means that it has become easier for U.S. companies to move their manufacturing overseas where it is less expensive 3.8 million U.S. manufacturing jobs were eliminated between 2000 and 2008 (one in five) Downsizing Increases in technology mean companies require less employees to operate Contingent Employment Reducing employees to part-time employment

How Does It Affect Me? Middle-Class Jobs Bureaucracy An administrative or policy-making group Hierarchy aka all of your bosses and their bosses Inefficient 300,000+ office and administrative jobs disappeared from 2004 to 2008 Loss of higher paying jobs has caused what is called ‘downwaging’ Replaced by lower paying jobs, many at or below poverty level 30 years ago one American worker could support a household, now a two-income family is the norm

Working in the USA About half of all U.S. workers currently feel satisfied with their salary and job security 60-80% feel very loyal to their company That’s a gap of 18-33% between a worker feeling loyal to their company and feeling their company is loyal to them Employee trust is eroding “Good luck with the firings”

Think About It Think about a job that you or a family member hold. Write a paragraph explaining why it might be subject to downsizing or contingent employment and how that would affect you and your family.