1. Labor Forces Chapter Eleven
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Learning Objectives
Identify forces beyond management control that affect the quantity and quality of labor
Explain the reasons that cause people to leave their home countries to work abroad
Discuss why some countries have guest workers
Explain factors associated with employment policies including social roles, gender, race, and minorities
Discuss differences and trends in labor unions among countries

3. Labor Quality and Quantity
Quality, quantity, and composition of labor force are of great importance to an employer
Labor Quality
The skills, education, and attitudes of available employees
Labor Quantity
The number of available employees with the skills required to meet an employer’s business needs
LO1

4. Worldwide Labor Conditions and Trends
Overall size and sector of the work force
International labor trends
Aging of populations
Rural to urban shift
Unemployment
Immigrant labor
Child labor
Forced labor
Brain drain
Guest workers
LO1

5. Primary Occupation of National Labor Force
LO1

6. Percentage of the Population aged 65 or More
LO1

7. Unemployment 3.1 billion workers in 2008 (per UN, ILO)
200 million overall are unemployed
Middle East and North Africa (13.2%)
Sub-Saharan Africa (9.7%)
Central and Eastern Europe (9.7)
Latin America and Caribbean (7.7)
Developed economies (6.7%)
Southeast Asia and the Pacific (6.1%)
South Asia (4.7%)
East Asia (3.8%)
45% of unemployed are between age 15 and 24
LO1

8. Labor Mobility
Labor Mobility refers to the movement of people from country to country or area to area to get jobs
Immigration refers to the process of leaving one’s home country to reside in another country
Foreign-born
Population comprises those immigrants whose move is permanent and may include taking citizenship
Foreign
Population who are guest workers
LO2

9. Nations With the Highest Number of International Migrants
LO2

10. Labor
Child labor
The labor of children below 16 years of age who are forced to work in production and usually receive little or no formal education
Primarily found in developing nations
Existent in developed countries
70% are in agriculture
Forced labor (27 million today) mostly in
South and East Asia
Northern and western Africa
parts of Latin America
LO2

11. Brain Drain
Brain drain refers to the loss by a country of its most intelligent and best-educated people
Record numbers of immigrants are moving to OECD countries in search of jobs
When skilled workers migrate from developing countries they do so for professional opportunities and economic reasons
Reverse brain drain refers to the growth of outsourcing and the movement of highly educated, technologically skilled employees and research scientists to other countries
LO2

12. Brain Drain
LO2

13. Foreign-Born Individuals with Science or Engineering Ph.D.
LO2

14. Guest Workers
Guest workers are people who go to a foreign country legally to perform certain types of jobs
Guest workers provide the labor host countries need
Guest workers are desirable as long as the economies are growing
When economies slow, fewer workers are needed and problems appear
LO3

15. Considerations in Employment Policies
Social Status
Important with respect to labor force, especially in some cultures
Caste: the group to which people belong in a system under which people’s place or level in a multilevel society is established at birth as being the same level as that of their parents
Sexism refers to the acceptability of women as full and equal participants in the work force ranges widely
Worldwide, 59% of all businesses include women in senior management positions
LO4

16. Women’s Education
Studies show a direct correlation between women’s education and
birthrates
child survival rates
family health
a nation’s overall prosperity
LO4

17. Female Illiteracy
LO4

18. Women in Parliament
LO4

19. Maternity Leave
LO4

20. Ratio of Wages, Woman versus Men, Selected OECD Countries
LO4

21. Racism Black and White conflict
U.S., South Africa, Great Britain and elsewhere
Arab-, Indian-, or Pakistani and Black conflict
Africa
Tamils and Sinhalese Conflict
Sri Lanka
LO4

22. Minorities Traditional Societies
Tribal peoples before they turn to organized agriculture or industry; traditional customs may linger after the economy changes
Minorities
A relatively smaller number of people identified by race, religion, or national origin who live among a larger majority
LO4

23. Employer-Employee Relationships
The labor market refers to the pool of available potential employees with the necessary skills within commuting distance from an employer
A company must study the labor market when considering whether to invest in a country
Sources include
Foreign Labor Trends
Handbook of Labor Statistics
Yearbook of Labor Statistics
LO5

24. Country Strike Rates Selected OECD Nations
LO5

25. Labor Unions European labor
Identified with political parties and socialist ideology
United States labor
Laborers already have many civil rights
Collective bargaining
A union represents the interests of a bargaining unit (sometimes includes both union members and nonmembers) in negotiations with management
LO5

26. Labor Unions
Japanese unions are enterprise-based rather than industry wide
Unions tend to identify strongly with company interests
Research shows that of all developed country workers, Japanese workers are the least satisfied with their jobs
LO5

27. Labor Union Membership Trends
Employers have made efforts to keep their businesses union-free
More women and teenagers have joined the work force, low loyalty to unions
The unions have been successful in raising wages, which leads to offshoring
In the knowledge economy, industrial jobs that have formed the core of union membership are declining
LO5

28. Multinational Labor Activities
Internationalization of companies creates opportunities for them to escape the reach of unions
In response, unions have begun to
collect and disseminate information about companies
consult with unions in other countries
coordinate with those unions’ policies and tactics
encourage international companies’ codes of conduct
Multinational unionism is developing
LO5

29. Multinational Labor Activities
The International Labor Organization (ILO) promotes social justice and recognizes human and labor rights worldwide
The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD consults on trade union issues in global markets
LO5

30. Union Membership Across Countries
LO5