Three Ways Governments Shape: Labor Markets - Essay Example

Titus Rock Manickam Order No. 200374 06 January 2008 Essay One Three ways in which governments shape labor markets Management of Labor Good governance requires those at the helm of affairs to understand the economical status of the country and the ways and means it could gainfully use its capability and workforce to use its resources and equitably provide for the basic needs of its people. The management of wealth and labor is not uniform since it is based on factors such as the kind of resource, its utility, and the technology and the skills of its workforce relevant to a particular region. However, broadly speaking, the government has come to appreciate the need to widen the employment base in order to instill more confidence in the workforce and “focus on the context for investment” (Lecture 3, p.3) thus creating a congenial environment for business while addressing the social concern of employment. In the current economic situation where the role of government in protecting labor has been reduced to the bare minimum due to globalization and advancements in technology, it is flexibility of the job market that is more in perspective than formulation of laws to safeguard labor. However, the scope of employment also raises the issue of work where salary is high that consequently raises the standard of living and another type of work where workers are paid low wages leading to social disparity and discontent. The issue of low wages is compounded by globalization that firms use as bargaining chip to tame labor with threats of outsourcing, giving business the upper hand as trade unions have largely been marginalized in an environment where technology has reduced manpower. The government is not only responsible to oversee a strong and vibrant economy but also to ensure equitable living conditions for every citizen in general, and the weaker sections of society in particular. There are some countries like the Scandinavian nations where the citizens enjoy generous social packages even if they are unemployed. There are other nations where 5 percent of the population enjoys 95 percent of the nation’s wealth, whereas 95 percent of the population survives on 5% of the country’s resources. It may not be possible for every country to satisfy every citizen with generous social schemes, but it is necessary to create conditions where everyone feels cared for. Economic and Social policies Generally, the government is noncommittal when it comes to the interest of workers in the lowly paid services basically for two reasons: one, the government wants to encourage new entrepreneurs to rise to the occasion and take advantage of working conditions under the new technological order that also creates new jobs; and two, the old system where employees enjoyed the benefits of seniority has given way to the new dispensation of performance where employers do not have to worry anymore about business suffering due to restrictive labor laws. While economically the policy of ‘hire and fire’ has yielded positive results, socially it has had debilitating effects on the weaker social sections resulting in exploitation such as gender bias, racial inequality, and sexual harassment where women are concerned. Minimum wage policy The government has sought to balance economic and social constraints in order to frame policies that meet the needs of the maximum number of people in the country. On the one hand highly paid work being polarized and linked to performance has largely become the reward for those holding prized qualifications. On the other hand, the policy of contracting labor with low hourly-paid wages has increased employment prospects although it has made living conditions difficult due to rising cost of living. This is apparent from the fact that although economy has grown phenomenally during the past three decades the rise in overall wages has not been as impressive. Essay Two Three dimensions of the relationship between paid and unpaid work Economic and social conditions of a country necessitate the government to frame policies that include job prospects involving paid working conditions. When an employee works, he or she gets paid for it. But there is another type of work where there is no payment made. This is the work normally done at home, in the neighborhood, in religious places. A housewife does not get paid for the cooking and cleaning she does at home. One does not expect payment for functions organized in the neighborhood or in religious places. There are three dimensions to the type of unpaid work that involves the individual, family and society. The well-being of an individual, family and society depends on emotional aspects of caring, helping and volunteering. Parents do not expect payment from children for looking after them. For economical purpose, one may even attempt to find out the potential in creating wealth out of duties classified as unpaid work. The attempt may also find acceptance since the role of nuclear families have drastically changed due to large number of women successfully pursuing careers in different streams and many even opting for low hourly-paid services. However, even the role of working women at home has not changed and they continue to perform their familial duties as wives and mothers which take its toll on their health. The liberalization of economic and social conditions has had both positive and negative effects. The positive effects are economic prosperity and emergence of better standard of living. The negative effects are the weakening of family bonds and structure and its repercussion on society largely due to absence of both parents from home and the consequence of children growing up to be problem adults without proper control resulting in broken homes and imbalanced society. Thus, it is apparent what is classified as “unpaid work” does not make its importance any less. Earlier, in the agricultural economy, the accepted norm was that the man worked in the farm, the woman performed the household activities of cooking, cleaning and looking after the children, and the payment received was in the form of sale of surplus farm and livestock produce. This norm has now changed with women and grown up children also involved in paid work. For a healthy society it is necessary to acknowledge and uphold the significance of unpaid work. It is difficult to imagine a situation without the need for cooking, cleaning, child care, caring for the elderly, gardening, and general home repairs and maintenance. Some familial work like laundering and cooking have been categorized as paid since cloth washing, cooking, cleaning, and house repairs could be dealt with hired help. Nonetheless, the task of hiring and outsourcing has to be undertaken by one of the family members who are not paid to do these. (Lecture 6, p.2). The question arises: how does the government figure in the realm of unpaid work? After all, the family is a social unit. Government has obligations both to society as well as its unit of the family. At the moment, there is a wide gap in the absence of the state’s role in the functions or malfunction of the fragile family unit. It must be granted that the government of free, liberal states cannot be expected to ably perform duties as house parents. It is neither possible nor practical for governments to involve in familial issues at the cost of national issues and interests. The best way to address family issues in wake of the new economical and social orders is to grasp the sanctity and importance of unpaid work. Sources: 1. Andrew Jackson, Are Wage Supplements the Answer to the Problems of the Working Poor? Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, June 2006, policyalternatives.ca/documents/.../2006/Wage_Supplements.pdf. 2. Steven Tufts, Book Review, Department of Geography, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada, www.justlabour.yorku.ca/volume67/pdfs/12 Tufts Press.pdf. 3. Andrew Jackson and Bob Baldwin, Policy Analysis by the Labor Movement in a Hostile Environment, www.queensu.ca/sps/researchers/working_papers/41.pdf. 4. Andrew Jackson, Poverty and Exclusion, Precarious Jobs and Social Exclusion, policyresearch.gc.ca/page.asp?pagenm=v7n2_art_07. 5. Tracey Adams, Workforce Aging in the New Economy, Professionalization in Computing-Related Occupations: Canada, the U.S. and Britain, www.wane.ca/PDF/WP8.pdf. 6. Sandy Welsh, Sexual Harassment Complaints To The Canadian Human Rights Commission, dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/SW21-43-1999E-5.pdf. 7. Lecture Notes. Read More