Free Working In Modern America Essay Sample

Nothing is permanent in this world but change. The governing people of this world show that none can be of permanent position or power as it changes over election seasons. The trend and growth of development also exhibits changes and temporarily. In Modern America, certain changes happen due to reason such as advancements in technology, migration, globalization, democracy, corporate power and certain adaptations to the changing environment. These changes have caused trickle down effects to subsectors like employment and labor. Working in the Modern America has seen to be completely different due to the factors affecting the sector of employment in the region.
The nature of work has changed due to having a service-oriented economy, the production of global markets and the increase in productivity demands as identified by Harrison and Dautrich (1999) in their work The Modern American Worker: Evaluating Satisfaction in an Evolving Workplace study as the major factors affecting the workplace in modern America. This study has been concluded and sealed with the understanding that American workers in modern America are very highly satisfied with their current jobs in the region with 92% of the surveyed answered such and only 8% showed their dissatisfaction. This study also, has considered the differences in the workplaces as dictated by socioeconomic statuses and demographic characteristics of the workers in the modern America such as educational attainment and type of employment.
Given the changing environment, workers in modern America have showed that they have uniform reasons and objectives on why they chose their job. In the same study stated above, 87% of the respondents said that the top three most important things that have to be considered in choosing a job are the ability to balance the work or career and family, health and medical coverage and insurances, and of course, the total annual income. But then, the top reasons why they are satisfied with their current jobs do not constitute the abovementioned objectives. Rather, it includes the relationship with co-workers and officemates, job responsibilities and tasks, and the quality of working environment. This data shows that though they are not highly satisfied in terms of their objectives on entering the job, they have been satisfied by social factors like the environment and the people they are working with.
There may be changes in the jobs offered and the trend of employment and labor in the modern America but still, there are factors left constant. This still is not an indication of permanency in the world rather consistencies on the reasons why people work. The next part of this study will show the changes in the works offered in Modern America as results of migration, globalization, corporate powers and democracy.

Immigration as a factor changing the Modern American Works

Immigration, as one of the major concepts of demography along with fertility and mortality has been considered to be one of the forces affecting the workforce in Modern America. The highly developing expertise in the region demands manpower from nearby communities with less expertise to work for blue collar jobs and agriculture. Immigrant workers and laborers have helped the modern America in terms of agricultural production. The increase of demands for agricultural products due to population growth has led to increased immigrant laborers to have sufficient and flexible supplies.
There are four identified reasons into which the immigrant workforce has been essential to the modern America as written by Esther Lee (2013) in her article Four Ways Immigrants are Crucial to the Modern American Workforce. In this article, it mentioned that though immigrant workers play such an important role, the majority of the population still considers them as a scapegoat for disappointing economic outcomes as they are still the underprivileged and oppressed citizens in the different regions in America. They are the illegal dwellers causing the worsening poverty incidence and poverty threshold which affects negatively the economic and other sectorial development of the region.
However, despite how the majority treats them, there are four major contributions that these immigrant laborers do to help out and contribute to the changes happening in the modern America. The first is that, these immigrant workers have been manning the farms and therefore, they are the ones putting foods in the dining table. This contribution has been seen primarily after the passage of Anti-Immigration Law in Georgia as it left thousands of vacancies in farm jobs and fields were left covered with rotten crops and fruits. The passage of such also has brought labor shortage resulted into forcing many farm owners to leave their agricultural businesses. This occurrence in Georgia has supported the fact that immigrant workers are mostly seen in farms and fields and that they have took responsibility in the production of agricultural products.
Many studies showed the importance of immigrant workers in terms of agricultural production however, the statuses of living of these immigrant laborers continue to be stable because they have not been paid fairly for their hard work. They are underpaid and so it will still take a long time before their scapegoat image will be disassociated with them. Anyway, the point is, immigration can therefore be concluded as a significant force contributing to the success despite the changes in modern America. Other reasons supplementing their contribution are the following: (1) their contributions make it more possible for the Americans to have an adequate and more reliable and accessible care during their retirement years as they contributes to the Medicare System surplus and Social Security Trust Fund, (2) immigrant families have been successful in replacing the baby boomers in the workplaces, (3) they constitute increase in American wages as they were able to increase the earnings of US workers by 0.4% and because they fill the vacancies such that on the agriculture.

Globalization as a factor changing the Modern American Works

As the international economy continues to globalize, the economy of modern America also tries to achieve the same. The objectives of gaining more profit and be more globally competitive in terms of national products have been the center of globalization in economic sector. America, as following its path through being globally competitive has focused on where the demands of the people in the world are. Some examples include the demand for computer operating systems like Microsoft and Macintosh thus leaving the agricultural and other traditional jobs behind (Spence, 2011). Modern America started buying the idea of outsourcing and investments to other countries other than the region to gain more profit and also, to manage the starting businesses outside America, they have to have workers with high end skills to be able to professionally handle transactions. The need for blue collar jobs was left behind and the white collar jobs have been more in demand.
Therefore, globalization has led to higher standards leaving the unprivileged not acknowledged for having traditional skills. Farming skills and other agricultural works have been left behind and not noticed by the government since they have been focused on the progress brought about by globalization and outsourcing. There have been imbalance in terms of workforces and so the modern America has reached the point where in they would need immigrant workers to have sufficient agricultural products. As a result, to have a higher economic development despite the negative effects of globalization in the region, modern America has extracted all the possible resources even if it means to legalize immigrants (Spence, 2011).

Power and Politics as a factor changing the Modern American Works

The first two factors affecting the works on modern America are both influenced by this third one which is the power and politics. Politics and power provide the authority for the people in the modern America to move according to the development plans. These two concepts are also responsible for dictating what jobs should be offered according to the needs and demands of the Americans. Also, they are also held accountable for the crimes and the provision of regulations for proper proceedings and to have legal transactions especially in the form of globalization. In short, power and politics is also one of the factors influencing and changing the sector of employment and labor in the modern America (Maroo, 2012).
In terms of employment and labor in the region, politics and power are considered to be the main decision making body which provides rules and regulations as well as implementations to be able to achieve the goals and objectives of each of the development plans for the sector of economy. Since they have the full access to the situation of the whole region, they are more able to make a change and steps to achieve development. Authority figures are responsible for answering the answers and needs and problems in unemployment which leads to bigger issues like shortage in the production of agricultural products. The cancellation and total scrapping of the Anti-Immigrant Law to give way for the immigrant workers to takeover to the agricultural products shortage is one of the actions made by the people who has power and are in politics to make sure that development in the sector of economy is achieved and in progress.

Conclusion

Modern America, just like the other countries that are considered as first world countries have adapted and have been exhibiting service economy that are primarily based on the transfer and exchange of expertise and knowledge than exchange of materials and other resources. The evolution of work in the modern America has extracted both the strengths and weaknesses of the region that is most especially observable between its society and economy. As modern America has become a service economy, the businesses of manufacturing and production have been outsourced and moved to the third world countries or developing countries with the aide of globalization. In this way, modern America has been relying the product of manufacturing businesses to other countries where they have invested and outsourced. Globalization, along with unionization and the rise of corporate powers have been considered to be some of the main factors which led to changes in the quality of employment and as well as in the structure of workforce in the modern America.
Despite the changes in the employment and labor in the modern America, there are people who consider themselves as modern day slaves. Since there is a shortage of blue collar workers in the region due to escalating quality of employment and heightened standards for skilled worker, jobs like domestic helping, housekeeping and such have been vacated. Few people have been able to consider and be employed in such jobs but, there are lots of stories in which according to the point of view of the workers, they are forced to do things beyond contract. At times, they have been victims of slavery, prostitution and forced to do such illegal acts. Therefore, if immigrant workers are bound to do the jobs like these, the modern America has been putting the lives of these immigrants at stake.
Given all the positive impacts of the new employment and labor in the modern America, there are also issues and problems that are needed to be answered and to be discussed carefully. This modern America cannot be forever relying on the production of their investments to the third world countries rather make it more self-sufficient to be able to say that America was fully developed. The modern America therefore has to put people to work on the vacancies in agricultural and domestic jobs and consider achieving balance between the professionals and the blue collared workers to be one of the main objectives under the sector of economy and subsectors like employment.
America, indeed, has high potentials when it comes to economic development. However, as we can see, its workforce has been struggling most especially in the fields of production and manufacturing. To achieve development more fully, the whole population of the region must therefore keep and manage having balance in all the activities and implementations between the types of workers to be more self-sufficient and reliant, going away from having shortages and other economic problems.

References

Maroo, C. (2012). Work in Modern America. StudyMode.com. Retrieved from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Work-In-Modern-America-935295.html.
Harrison, C. & Dautrich, K. (1999). The modern American worker: evaluating satisfaction in an evolving workplaces. Public Perspective.
Lee, E. (2013). Four Ways Immigrants are Crucial to the modern American Workforce. Thinkprogress. Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Spence, Michael. (2011). Globalization and Unemployment: The downside of integrating markets. Council of Foreign Affairs. United States.