The Changing Nature of Work

The Changing Nature of Work Chapter 14

Overview • The workforce of tomorrow • Individual dimensions of change: • Emotions, Adaptability, Genetic influences • Work dimensions of change: • Technology, Temporary workforce, Lifelong learning • Societal dimensions of change: • Economic competition, Values, Time

The Workforce of Tomorrow • Fastest growing occupations: • Registered nurses • Postsecondary teachers • Retail salespersons • Medical assistants • Network systems and data communications analysts • Physician assistants Between 2002 and 2012, based on the Bureau Labor Statistics

The Workforce of Tomorrow • Civilian labor force will grow by 12% • Fastest growing group will be seniors • Number of workers 55 and older is projected to increase by 49.3%. They will account for 19.1% of the workforce, up from 14.3% • Women will also account for a larger share of the working population, up 1% to 47.5% by 2012. • Men’s share of the workforce is expected to decline by 1% to 52.5% Between 2002 and 2012, based on the Bureau Labor Statistics

Individual Dimensions: Emotions • Emotional Labor: how employees behave when they are required to feel, or at least appear to feel, certain emotions that facilitate their job performance “…..those who work in customer service may encourage repeat business by showing smiles and good humor, whereas those who work as bill collectors or in law enforcement may find that an angry demeanor results in the best “customer” response (Hochschild, 1983; Sutton, 1991; VanMaanen & Kunda, 1989). For therapists or judges, a lack of emotional responding may be needed when listening to clients. In each case, the emotional expression (or suppression) results in more effective workplace interaction. “ (Grandey, 2000)

Individual Dimensions: Emotions • Emotions vs. moods • Characteristics of emotions in the workplace • Common at work • Produce positive and negative work outcomes • Individual differences affect emotions

Individual Dimensions: Adaptability • Adaptability: willingness to embrace new situations. • Relational skills: • Communication • Interpersonal relating • Conflict resolution • Influencing capabilities • Important with shift to work teams

Individual Dimensions: Adaptability • Adaptable employees must: • Handle emergencies or crises • Handle work stress • Solve problems creatively • Deal with uncertain/unpredictable work situations • Learn work tasks, technologies, and procedures • Demonstrate interpersonal adaptability • Demonstrate physically oriented adaptability

Individual Dimensions: Genetic Influences • Genetic differences are hypothesized to influence job factors such as job choice, performance, how we feel about our work, length of time on a job, and level of income • One main areas of research concerns the heritability of stress

Individual Dimensions: Genetic Influences • Genetic assessment/measurement: • Krumm (2002) suggests that genetic assessment should be illegal because it could lead to genetic discrimination. • Genetic discrimination can be defined as the discrimination that results "against an individual or a member of an individual's family solely on the basis of that individual's genotype." (Krumm, 2002)

Individual Dimensions: Genetic Influences—Discrimination • “A 24 year old woman excelled at her social work job. She attends a conference on Huntington’s Disease and discloses that she is at risk for developing it. Shortly thereafter, she is fired”. • “During his first job interview, a 53-year old man discloses that he has hemochromatosis, but notes that he is asymptomatic. During his second interview, the employer tells him that he is concerned about his disease. The employer asks if the man would be willing to accept the job without medical insurance. Anxious to procure employment, the man agrees. During his 3rd interview, the employer informs him that, although the employer would like to hire him, it cannot do so because of his disease”.

Individual Dimensions: Genetic Influences—Consequences • Krumm (2002) suggests the following consequences of genetic testing: • Creation of a genetic underclass • The violation of individual privacy rights • Use of genetic discrimination as a pretext for other forms of discrimination

Work Dimensions: Technology • Advances in information technology are the driving forces behind major changes in how we work (Van der Spiegel, 1995) • Issues: • More complex jobs • Different types of training • Enhancing the sharing of information • Creating “virtual offices” for workers on the go

Work Dimensions: Temporary Workforce • In 1990, there were approximately 100 temporary employment agencies and 470,000 temporary employees in US. In 2000, there were approximately 1,500 agencies and 1.6 million employees. These numbers are likely to increase. • Why use temporary workers? • Less cost for employer

Work Dimensions: Temporary Workforce • Sources of temporary workers: • Women with children • Downsized workers • Retired workers • Recent college graduates • Temporary work pays less, has little or no job security, offers few opportunities for growth. So, many temporary workers are unsatisfied

Work Dimensions: Temporary Workforce • Outcomes of temporary workers depend on the situation: • Employees who held temporary jobs voluntarily, with jobs consistent with their prior education, had more positive attitudes toward their jobs • Employees looking for permanent jobs were less satisfied with their pay and their agencies • Employees using their temporary agencies to obtain full-time jobs and those who were temporary-to-permanent had more positive job attitudes

Work Dimensions: Lifelong Learning • New idea is that workers will learn throughout their lifetime and career. • Rise of certificate programs • Organizations as “vendors of employment”

Societal Dimensions: Economic Competition • Global competition is the single most powerful economic fact of life in the 1990s • In the 1960s, only 7% of the U.S. economy was exposed to international competition. In the 1980s 70% was exposed • Today, one in five American jobs are tied directly or indirectly to international trade • Merchandise exports are up more than 40% since 1986, and every $1 billion in U.S. merchandise exports generates approximately 20,000 new jobs

Societal Dimensions: Values • Fairness • Equity vs. equality • Impact on group differences • Gender • Physical strength

Societal Dimensions: Time • The Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate: • 10.8 million U.S. managers work 49 or more hours per week • Top executives work 50–70 hours per week • An early 1990s poll of 1,344 middle managers reported that: • 33% of managers work 40–49 hours per week, • 57% work 51–60 hours per week • 6% work more than 60 hours per week

Societal Dimensions: Time • “American workers work 137 hours more per year than do Japanese workers, 260 hours per year more than do British workers, and 499 hours per year more than do French workers.” • Why do American workers do this? • Economists suggested that American work hours have a lot to do “with the American psyche, with American culture”

Societal Dimensions: Time • Cultural differences: • Past-oriented cultures focus on tradition • Future-oriented cultures emphasize goals, aspirations, future risks • Time as a personality construct: • Serial monochronicity: doing one task at a time, start to finish • Polychronicity: doing multiple tasks at once. • Time-based issues are leading cause of stress

Conclusion • The future may look very different from the past • Old axiom “the past is the best predictor of the future” may have to be modified

The Changing Nature of Work