Challenges Faced by Graduates in a Volatile Global Economy - Coursework Example

?Within the context of the boundaryless career critically analyse the challenges faced by graduates in a volatile global economy. Table of Contents Within the context of the boundaryless career critically analyse the challenges faced by graduates in a volatile global economy. 1 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Boundary less Careers 3 Challenges Faced by Graduates 4 Conclusions 6 References 7 Introduction The recent economic downturn had a deep impact on the job market as companies went overdrive to cut jobs in the backdrop of a severe financial crisis. The period of economic recession saw many individuals being handed pink slips (Tuppen, 1988, p.54). It also meant that fresh graduates even from reputed institutions could not find a job of their choice. This has led to emergence of certain very critical aspects with regards to career growth and development of individuals (Roberts, 2009). The present study would analyze the career aspects of a graduate in the recessionary environment in the backdrop of a boundary less career for an individual. Boundary less Careers The definition of boundary less career itself is a matter of research with varied version of the definition of the term across academic circles. Among the most accepted of the definition is the one given by Arthur and Rousseau (1996) that defines boundary less careers as the complete opposite of organizational career that span across various organizations against traditional assumptions of employment. The definition given above was challenged by Eby (2001) who defined boundary less careers as a connecting sequence of expertise across jobs and companies (Barling & Cooper, 2008, p.279). Greenhaus, Callanan & Godshalk (2009) Conducted a research into the aspect of boundary less careers and concluded that the aspect was majorly due to the inter organizational mobility and a change in attitude among the employees to look for greener pastures in their careers. This trend is particularly been observed in the capitalist economies of USA, UK and other developed nations as there are large number of business organizations that are ever in need of good professionals for their company. There are many perspectives on this approach firstly, certain researchers propose that boundary fewer careers involve increased mobility towards better opportunities and rewards. Another contradictory school of thought states that aspects like mentality, identity and psychological aspects that defines the aspect of boundary less careers. Networking and connections also play a major role in the mobility of individuals across organizations (Greenhaus, Callanan & Godshalk, 2009, p.23-24). The aspect of boundary less careers has also been debated with regards to the aspect of commitment and loyalty. On one hand some individuals feel that the aspect of boundary less careers has reduced the loyalty and commitment aspects. The protagonists of this theory feel that boundary less carers have increased and improved individual performance in the quest for greater improvements in the careers due to which individuals resort to job hopping across organizations and business verticals in an attempt to better influence the careers (Purcell & Wright, 2007, p.133-134). Guest & Conway (2004) stated that there was a contrasting view in boundary fewer careers as it led to development of loyalty towards an individual’s own career and personal interests. Academic and research professionals have often critiqued this aspect and stated that this was detrimental to the organizational interests as individuals in boundary less careers often put themselves and their personal ambitions before the organizational interests (Guest & Conway, 2004, p.51). Challenges Faced by Graduates The recent market recession has led to a serious job cuts within economies. According to the data released by OECD USA alone reported a major job cut that is evident from the fact that there were 145362000 employed civilians in 2008 as compared to 139877000 individuals in the following year. The statistics reveal a clear picture as to how the economic crisis has reduced employment options for graduates. Similar trend was also reported and observed for other nations like UK, France etc that were severely impacted by the economic crisis (OECD, 2011). According to a report published by The National Bureau of Economic Research the economic recession has led to a reduction of about 9 percent of the total earnings of a fresh graduate as a part of its initial earnings. The report states that graduates completing their degrees in recessionary settle down for lower paid and smaller firms and tend to switch jobs frequently in an attempt to gain better compensation and larger opportunities. This is quite contrasting for normal periods of economic growth during which fresh graduates tend to get good jobs and tend to stay stable for a certain period of time. Individuals are also affected by shocks throughout their initial career phase due to instability in their careers (The National Bureau of Economic Research, 2011). In a volatile recessionary economic scenario the organizations also resort to job cuts and put a freeze on recruitments. In extreme cases companies also tend to revoke offer letters to students hired during campus interviews. These attend to have severe moral and other impacts on an individual that can affect the long term career opportunity of the employees. The trend of unemployment may however vary between different industry sectors as the effect of recession may affect different industry segments in a different manner (Townsend, 1983, p.80). In order to tide away with the issues plaguing the job market during recession, graduates should try to focus their attention towards getting a relevant job profile rather than go after salaries. This is because of the fact that recession is not permanent but a temporary phase within the economic cycle. Hence a good profile would add to the learning of the candidates and enrich their knowledge base that can be leveraged to get a good opportunity when the economy begins to revive again (Geroski & Gregg, 1997, p.149-151). Conclusions The analysis of boundary less organization provides a scenario that is essentially prevalent in today’s job environment. Individuals in search for greener pastures are often resorting to switch in jobs and putting individual objective more priority as compared to organizational objectives. In a recessionary environment individuals often tend to switch jobs due lower salaries and absence of desired job responsibilities. However a mature decision during these periods would be to increase the experience and augment their knowledge base. The recessionary environment is temporary and would eventually pave the way for better periods that can help generate better career opportunities in the future. References Barling, J. & Cooper, C.L. (2008). The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Behavior: Micro approaches. SAGE Publications Ltd. Geroski, P. & Gregg, P. (1997). Coping with recession: UK company performance in adversity. Cambridge University Press. Greenhaus, J.H., Callanan, G.A. & Godshalk, V.M. (2009). Career Management. SAGE. Guest, D. & Conway, N. (2004). Employee well-being and the psychological contract: a report for the CIPD. CIPD Publishing. OECD. (2011). Annual Labour Force Statistics. [Online]. Available at: http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?querytype=view&queryname=86. [Accessed on October 12, 2011]. Purcell, J. & Wright, P.M. (2007). The Oxford handbook of human resource management. Oxford Handbooks Online. Roberts, R. (2009). The Job Market and the Great Recession. [Online]. Available at: http://mercatus.org/publication/job-market-and-great-recession. [Accessed on October 12, 2011]. The National Bureau of Economic Research. (2011). The Career Effects Of Graduating In A Recession. [Online]. Available at: http://www.nber.org/digest/nov06/w12159.html. [Accessed on October 12, 2011]. Townsend, A.R. (1983). The impact of recession on industry, employment, and the regions, 1976-1981. Taylor & Francis. Tuppen, J.N. (1988). France under recession, 1981-1986. SUNY Press. Read More