Sociology of the Workplace essay
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macionis_c11.pptxChapter 11 Work and the Workplace
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Tracking the Trends: Work and the Workplace
During the recent recession, more than 15 million people who wanted work were unable to find jobs.
Q. Do you think that everyone who wants to work should have employment? How can our society create more economic opportunity?
During the recession, the rate jumped to almost 10%
In 2000, the unemployment rate was less than 4%
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Unemployment Rate 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 4.0000000000000015E-2 4.7000000000000021E-2 5.800000000000001E-2 6.0000000000000019E-2 5.5000000000000021E-2 5.1000000000000004E-2 4.6000000000000006E-2 4.6000000000000006E-2 5.800000000000001E-2 9.3000000000000055E-2 9.6000000000000016E-2 8.9000000000000051E-2 8.1000000000000016E-2 7.4000000000000038E-2
U.S. Annual Unemployment Rate
The Importance of Work
Source of income
Sense of pride and accomplishment
Source of identity and self-esteem
Provides meaning to life and is a major part of our adult identity
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Structural Changes in the U.S. Economy The Industrial Revolution
1900: share of people working in factories equaled share working on the farm
Drained population of small rural towns
Attracted immigrants to cities
1930s: 1 in 4 workers out of work
1950s and 1960s: Post-WWII boom
Rising wages
Better standard of living
Growth of the suburbs
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Figure 11-1 The Changing Nature of Work in the United States, 1850-2012
In 1850, 80% of U.S. workers were in the primary sector of the economy.
Industrial work peaked about 1950 and has been in decline since then.
Today, more than 80% of U.S. workers have service jobs.
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1950s: Emergence of the service sector
Invention of the computer and spread of computer technology
“New” white collar jobs:
Advertising
Consulting
Computer programming
Structural Changes in the U.S. Economy The Information Revolution
From U.S. Steel to Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center…
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Structural Changes in the U.S. Economy Deindustrialization
Deindustrialization: Decline of industrial production in the U.S. after 1950
Loss of factory jobs and plant closings
Job displacement
From skilled industrial workers to clerical, maintenance, and other unskilled jobs
Decline in pay and benefits
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Globalization
Globalization: The expansion of economic activity around the world with little regard for national borders
Good for multi-national corporations; not for many U.S. families
Outsourcing of industrial jobs to low-wage countries
Figure 11-2 Average Hourly Wages for Workers in Manufacturing, 2011
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Other Problems of the U.S. Workplace
Dual Labor Market
Primary: good pay and extensive benefits
Careers; professions
Also business managers, airline pilots, newspaper editors, electrical engineers
Secondary: low pay and few benefits
Service jobs; little chance for advancement
Restaurant work, retail sales, telemarketing, maintenance
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Dangers to Workers
Government action to improve safety:
1970: Established OSHA to regulate workplace health and safety
1976: Toxic Substances Control Act passed
Still a serious social problem:
2012: 1.2 million workers had disabling accidents
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Bipin (B) - COMP: Please replace with updated photo.
Dangers to Workers
Mining
Accidents
Respiratory disease: coal dust
Farming
Accidents, toxic chemicals, children working
Toxic Substances and Radiation
Factories, nuclear power plants
Workplace Violence
2012: 463 murders; 225 suicides
Women especially vulnerable
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Figure 11-3 Risk of Death, by Type of Job, 2012
Each year, about 4,400 workers lose their lives in workplace accidents
Agriculture and mining are the most dangerous occupations
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Workplace Alienation
Alienation: Marx’s View
Alienation: experience of isolation and misery from powerlessness in the workplace
Work as a natural and satisfying act
Capitalism alienates workers in four ways:
From their jobs
From the products they make
From each other
From their human potential
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Workplace Alienation
Alienation: Weber’s View
Alienation: Depersonalization of the workplace and throughout society due to rational focus on efficiency
Cause of alienation is the impersonal focus on efficiency
Rationalization of society: Historical change from tradition to rationality and efficiency as the typical way people think about the world
Little concern for the human costs of any policy or practice.
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McDonaldization and “McJobs”
George Ritzer
McDonaldization- defining work in terms of (1) Efficiency, (2) Predictability,(3) Uniformity, and (4) Automation
“McJobs” work is found throughout the low-skill service sector
The work involves simple tasks, provides little satisfaction, is predictable and repetitive, and has high turnover
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The “Temping”of the Workplace
Deindustrialization and the growth in part-time workers
Low pay
No benefits
Little control over their work
21% of the U.S. labor force “temps,” working without retirement plans, sick leave, health insurance, and job security
Especially true for women and minorities
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Unemployment
Between 4% and 5% unemployment is normal, “full” employment.
“Discouraged workers” give up trying to find work, and are not counted in the official figures.
Piven & Cloward: Government expands welfare programs in weak economic times and cuts programs in boom times.
Example: welfare reform in 1996
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Who is at Risk for Unemployment?
Racial and ethnic minorities
Less educated
Rate for high school dropouts is 3x higher than for college graduates
Figure 11-4 Unemployment Rates for Various Categories of the U.S. Population, 2013
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The “Jobless Recovery”
Economy operates in cycles: periods of prosperity followed by periods of recession
This time, recession is over but unemployment is still high.
Computer technology allows fewer people to do more work.
Companies are demanding more work from existing employees.
Greater use of temporary workers
More jobs outsourced overseas
Economy is growing, but not fast enough to absorb all job-seekers
Many U.S. workers are too expensive and not highly skilled enough
Why?
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The “Low-Wage Recovery”
Many jobs pay less than in the past.
Before the recent recession, 2/3 of all jobs provided a “middle-class” standard of living.
Half of the new jobs created in the last few years do the same.
Especially true for jobs taken by younger adults.
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Race, Ethnicity, and Gender
Institutional discrimination: Bias built into the operation of the economy, education, and other social institutions
Results in underrepresentation of women and minorities in better jobs
More women and minorities in secondary labor market
“Glass Ceiling” prevents minorities from moving up in an organization
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Workplace Segregation
U.S. workplace is highly segregated by race and gender:
Minorities concentrated in the least desirable jobs
White men predominate in the most desirable
A major reason for income disparities between different racial and ethnic categories of U.S. population.
Women more likely to be in low-status positions, or not in the full-time labor force at all.
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Figure 11-5 Percentage of Various U.S. Occupations Held by African Americans and by Hispanic Americans, 2013
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Labor Unions
Grew out of labor movement of the 1930s
Railway Labor Act
Norris-LaGuardia Act
National Labor Relations Act
Labor unions: Worker organizations that seek to improve wages and working conditions through various strategies, including negotiations and strikes
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Union Decline
Union membership grew from 1930 and peaked in the 1970s
Since 1970s, decline in union membership
shift from factory jobs to the non-union service sector
Recent gains in union membership among government workers
2013: 35% of workers in public sector of the economy were unionized
Controversies in Ohio, Wisconsin, elsewhere
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Figure 11-6 Number of Labor Strikes in the United States, 1960-2013
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Unions Today
Majority Sign-Up
Traditional method: if a majority sign a card indicating they want a union, all workers must join and pay dues.
Right to Work
Laws to:
limit the power of unions to require membership and dues from workers as a condition of hiring
allow workers to vote using a secret ballot
vs.
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National Map 11-1 “Right to Work” Laws across the United States
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New Information Technology: The Brave New Workplace
In the postindustrial economy, people must develop literacy skills to create and manipulate symbols:
words, ideas, music, and computer code
The Home as Workplace
1 in 5 workers spends some work time at home during the week
Many people are extending their work hours from home
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New Information Technology: The Brave New Workplace
People who do some work from home tend to have higher salaries and more education.
Benefits:
Save on commuting costs and time
Flexibility to help balance career and family obligations
Problems:
Job invades home space
Risk of isolation (left out of key decisions)
Can perpetuate gender inequalities
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Global Map 11-1 Internet Users in Global Perspective
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Workplace Isolation
Computer technology reduces the need for face-to-face interaction
Workers are connected by information networks
Social and physical separation and isolation of workers and clients from one another
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Workplace Supervision
Employers can electronically monitor worker output and behavior.
The “Deskilling” of Workers
Computers make decisions without direct human assistance, which has the effect of deskilling managers and threatening their jobs.
New technology:
Changes relationship between people in the workplace
Shapes the way we work
Can alter balance of power between employers and employees
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Structural-Functional Analysis: Finding a New Equilibrium
Stresses the interrelated nature of social institutions:
Disruption of past economic patterns eventually brings a new social order.
Technology is a key factor shaping work and the workplace.
Economic setbacks may help bring about greater long-term stability.
Criticism: Downplays human suffering experienced during disruptions.
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Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: The Meaning of Work
Stresses the social construction of work
Meanings that people attach to work and work relationships
Difference between those in primary and secondary labor markets
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Social-Conflict Analysis: Work and Inequality
Focus is on how inequality impacts work in society
The economy provides different opportunities for advantaged and disadvantaged categories of people.
Work is alienating rather than satisfying for most people.
Criticism: Downplays the real gains in living standards in the U.S.
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Feminist Analysis: Work and Gender
How our culture links certain types of work to women, and to men
A larger share of men than women are in the workplace
Men hold the positions with the most power.
Criticism: Gender no longer has nearly the importance it once had in shaping the world of work. The gender gap is narrowing.
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Conservatives: Look to the Market
Free-market economics, with a minimum of government regulation, generates the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Downturns are temporary and people will be allocated to where the jobs are.
Individuals should take responsibility for their economic and job well-being.
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Liberals: Look to Government
Free market with government regulation to ensure all interests are taken care of
Protect the interests of low-income people, immigrants, and other vulnerable populations.
Progressive taxation
Higher minimum wage
Government aid for education, job training, and healthcare benefits
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The Radical Left: Basic Change is Needed
The free-market is the source of economic and worker related problems
Low wages, workplace hazards, unemployment
Replace capitalist economic system with one that makes people, rather than profits, its highest priority
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