Unemployment

As of the end of March 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009) reported an increase in the unemployment rate with an additional 694,000 individuals losing their jobs to raise the total number of unemployment people to 13. 2 million. These numbers represent an unemployment rate of 8. 5 percent representing an increase by 3. 4 percent. Fifty percent of the recently unemployed individual lost their jobs in just the last four months. Most of these people became unemployed in the last four months due to cost cutting measures, closures, and other reasons or completed a contractual or temporary job without renewal.

Many of the individuals recently unemployed also face long-term unemployment due to limited job opportunities. The rise in unemployment cuts across age, gender and race although with varying rates of increase. With majority of the recent unemployment increase due to job termination, this highlights the importance of understanding employee rights in case of job termination on both the part of employers and employees. A thorough understanding of employee rights by employers would minimize litigation. Employees undergoing job termination could also ensure or secure their rights.

Job Termination Job termination is the general term referring to the ending of employment relations. This could happen in three ways. First is through the initiative of the employee also called voluntary termination. This form of job termination is positive because the usual reason is movement to a better employment position such as finding a new job. Second is through the initiative of the employer also called involuntary termination. This constitutes the negative form of job termination because the employees affected would not have terminated the employment on their own volition.

This form of job termination involves the most issues and supports the importance of employee rights. Involuntary job termination can happen in two ways. One is though dismissal or firing for cause. The other is layoff or redundancy usually through economic causes affecting the business. Third is through mutual termination that involves the agreement of both parties such as the conclusion of employment contract, compulsory retirement, or forced resignation. (Werhane, Radin, & Bowie, 2004) Rights of Employees in Case of Job Termination

The rights of employees in case of job termination depend on the conditions and terms of the employment contract and applicable statutory provisions. Regardless of the manner through which job termination happens, the conditions and terms of the employment contract applies, provided the contract is valid. Statutory provisions also apply even if not explicitly mentioned in the contract. The rights of employees fall under three broad categories. Job termination for just cause is one right of employees especially in case of involuntary termination.

Just cause means valid reasons for terminating an employee such as poor performance or misconduct for firing an employee or financial troubles of a business due to economic recession for layoff. Reasons comprising just cause for termination are in the contract. Just cause also refers to the selection of employees for termination in case of layoff. Labor laws provide for the operation of non-discrimination of employees and equal opportunity. These mean that the company terminating employees should have objective criteria for selecting the employees to let go and not arbitrary reasons such as termination due to gender or race.

(Newton & Kleiner, 2002) Objective standards could be the last-in-first-out policy or performance based policy. Sufficient notice is also another right of employees. Again, the period of notice regardless of the means of job termination depends on the employment contract, which usually requires two-weeks notice based on standard practice. In the case of layoff, the legislation on worker adjustment provides for a mandatory 60-day notice for companies with more than 100 workers. (Werhane et al.

, 2004) Sufficient notice is a right because this acts as an equitable measure especially for employees experiencing involuntary termination. The period of notice would give employees time to find a new job and settle work-related obligations with the company. This would also allow the employer time to find a replacement or settle its obligations to employees. Pay and benefits constitute another right of employees. Employees are entitled to their final paycheck covering all working days from the day after the last paycheck to the last day of employment.

The period for giving the last paycheck could be immediately in case of dismissal or in the next pay schedule for resignation and layoff. Employees experiencing layoff could also receive severance pay depending on the provisions of the employment contract. This could come through a severance package that includes a certain lump sum amount such as one or two months pay, outplacement arrangements, and health insurance. Federal labor law also provides for the continuation of health insurance even after job termination as well as unemployment insurance and benefits.

Some state laws also provide unemployment benefits for specific groups such as those with disabilities. (Steward & Botello, 2008) Since these are rights, employees can assert their entitlement to these rights by exacting the obligation of employers. In case of violation, employees can also file their grievances, such as wrongful termination, in court or via alternative dispute resolution. Conclusion Employees’ rights are paramount especially with the widespread job termination occurring in the United States.

The rights of employees find basis on the conditions and terms of the employment contract as well as provisions of federal and state labor laws. Job termination could be voluntary, involuntary or mutual and these have varying implications on employees’ rights. The basic rights of employees regardless of the type of termination include just cause for termination, sufficient notice, and pay and benefits. By knowing these rights, employees can ensure equitable and fair processes and outcomes from job termination. References Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009). The employment situation: March 2009.

Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://www. bls. gov/news. release/empsit. nr0. htm Newton, D. E. , & Kleiner, B. H. (2002). Termination at will vs. termination for just cause: Where are we today?. Managerial Law, 44(1/2), 75-80. Steward, D. , & Botello, S. (2008). Back pay and front pay calculations in employment termination cases: Accounting for re-employment and mitigation efforts. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://ssrn. com/abstract=1218642 Werhane, P. H. , Radin, T. J. , & Bowie, N. E. (2004). Employment and employee rights. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

In all modern societies, work fills a basic and central role in human life. The centrality of work is demonstrated by the personal responsibility individuals assume for their work, the amount of time they devote to it, and the significance it has within the general context of their lives. Work has important social and economic implications as well, on both an organizational and general social level. Identities within society have been determined largely by the work that people do.

It has a major part to play in shaping our sense of self and affects how we see ourselves and how others see us. It’s formatted by large number of influencing factors, like which are interpellated and which we make a conscious decision to choose or exclude. We all know the first question asked in many situations of primary social encounter: ‘What do you do? ‘ by which we really mean ‘What is your job?. ‘ we do not answer with our hobby, or with our religious identity, but with all the certainty in the world with our occupation: ‘skilled worker for ‘.

If we know our interlocutor’s occupation then we think we know him or her. The occupation serves a mutual identification pattern, with the help of which we can assess personal needs and abilities as well as economic and social position. I will discus the story which written by john greaves, the coal miner and his identity’s change during the time, after that I will discus the employers of developing industrial country and how they work now, then I will compare between this two employer, and I will explain how work influences and shape people identity .

Firstly, the coal miner, who spend most of his life and time working more that twenty years in this field, he was working and get up early every day, actively, satisfied and without any fear. His identity was as a coal miner as an individual and also a member of a community with a shared collective identity. His village, Goldthorpe, in South Yorkshire, revolved both economically andsocially around the pits. He did not think that he will be unemployed on day and he will lose it.

And now, after all this years and after closing the mine, he talk about his feeling of uncertainty or the future, and he feel sad about losing his job, identity and the symbol that relate to his job. He say that he lose his powerful identity, he mean “collective identity” which can be found among workers whose lives are closely bound up with their involved in coal mining. this changes in the economy lead to considerable anxiety among white working class men. In other hand, developing industrial country is a major reason for increasing levels and number of service and employers that is largely part-time , such as “call center” , Which connects large computer and telephones together.

We can find more that hundred of employers work there with different job titles and careers , like direct seller, customer services, managers and others. It’s described as white collar factories as the workload is constantly monitored and performance related pay is often used as an incentive. Now, if we compare between the coal miner that lost his work and his correlative identity and one of call center stuff, it would be clear to identify how work influences and shape our identity. There is little sense of community or collective identity.

John Greaves was clearly interpellated into his role as a coal miner and his identity associate with his community, whereas call center staff work for instrumental purposes, define himself by what he purchase and his spending power. We are now more likely to identify ourselves through our income and spending power rather than job title. This is backed up through recently research that tell us we have leave our collective and occupational identities to more individual consumption based ones. Also our identities are shaped by our income.

Income allows us to consume and depending on the amount of income we generate this results in what we consume and our ability to selectively purchase goods. Bourdieu (1977 pg 107/8) argued that people are able to express their identities through consumption and also that as taste differs between social class then consumption will also differ. People in different social classes are unlikely to have the same consumption patterns, which leads to a difference in the ability to portray identity.

For example, the ability to purchase expensive ca and material goods such as cars from being in a well paid job will create an identity of a middle class citizen compared to coal miner wage on which limited items can be purchased. Consumption preferences and abilities are highly symbolic markers of status and dividers in social class. Some sociologists have argued that consumption has replaced class and that this now is the key factor in the structure of social division and identity. We can conclude that income, socialisation in the workplace, unemployment and social class.

It is evident that work is a contributory factory in influencing and creating identities. Also identities which are created by work are not unfixed, it can change by economic changes. Change of work from collective community base to individual to and material one would be clear today . Like what “call centers” employers do, they don’t identify with their work, they define themselves by what they are spending and what they have. There is also an evident link between income and person, people’s behaviors in the way which identity is created.

Abstract

Welfare benefits in the Nordic countries are often tied to employment. We argue that this is one of the factors behind the success of the Nordic model, where a comprehensive welfare state is associated with high employment. In a general equilibrium setting, the underlining mechanism works through wage moderation and job creation. The benefits make it more important to hold a job, thus lower wages will be accepted, and more jobs created. Moreover, we show that the incentive to acquire higher education improves, further boosting employment in the long run. These positive e¤ects help counteracting the negative impact of taxation.

Keywords: Nordic model, in-work benefits, wage adjustment, unemployment, education, skill formation, earnings 1 Introduction A prominent feature of the so-called Nordic model is a comprehensive welfare state nanced by taxes on labor.

However, external observers are often surprised that the Nordic countries manage to combine low unemployment and high labor force participation with high taxes and generous welfare arrangements. So, how is this possible? One answer to this question is that many of the welfare arrangements in the Nordic countries are closely tied to market work. The generosity of the benefits are, in general, related to earnings. In addition, eligibility to a number of bene…ts and social services is conditional on employment.

Subsidized childcare, for example, is, in principle, only available to employed workers. Also, some generous elements of the paid paren’tal leave schemes are only accessible to employed workers. In addition, the more recently introduced earned income tax credit is by de…nition exclusively targeted to employed workers. The idea is that these benefits, by increasing the returns from working, increase the supply of labor. The observation that the Nordic countries have sustained high economic aactivity because benefits are closely tied to market work is not new.

In fact this was noted as a contributing factor to the high participation rate observed in Sweden when a group of NBER economists studied the Swedish welfare state in the mid 1990s (see Freeman et al. , 1997). This was also an important message in the discussion on the prospects and challenges of the Scandinavian model in Andersen (2008). The starting point for this paper is that entitlement to many of the bene…ts available in the Nordic countries is conditional on employment. As discussed above, this tends to increase the gains from working, which encourages labor supply.

However, we argue that this is not the end of the story. To investigate the full impact of welfare state arrangements of this type, one needs to account for the general equilibrium e¤ects. This is particularly relevant because many bene…ts have been available to the whole population for a long period of time. Clearly, to investigate the e¤ects of these benefits on employment, which is an equilibrium outcome, both supply-side and demand-side factors must be iincluded in the analysis. Moreover, beside considering the equilibrium outcome for the existing workforce, it is important to account 2 or the impact of these bene…ts on incentives to acquire skills. The equilibrium composition of the workforce in terms of educational attainment is a crucial variable for the sustainability of the Nordic model, both in terms of its growth potential and international competitiveness (Andersen, 2008) and in terms of the political support for the welfare state (Hassler et al. , 2003). To carry out such an analysis, we develop a simple model of a non-clearing labor market featuring involuntary unemployment as an equilibrium outcome.

Labor force participation is also endogenously determined. Moreover, individuals di¤er in their ability to acquire education and choose educational attainments based on a cost-bene…t analysis. In particular, we focus on the choice between proceeding to higher, i. e. tertiary, education or not. The aim is to investigate the implications of bene…ts that are conditional on work on unemployment and labor force participation, accounting for their long term impact on educational attainments.

We show that benefits available only to employed workers moderate wages, reduce unemployment rates, and increase labor force participation and employment. Moreover, one could expect that welfare bene…ts, even if conditional on work, could induce an outright reduction in education as they represent an important subsidy for low skilled workers. What we …nd instead is that the incentives to proceed to higher education are actually strengthened. This is a consequence of the relatively sthronger increase in labor market opportunities for highly educated workers that follow when wages are moderated.

Wages, in turn, fall because workers are more willing to accept lower wages when benefits are conditional on work and thus the value of having a job is higher. Lower wages increase job creation and lower the unemployment rate. Thus, total employment increases for three sets of reasons. First, the benefits reduce the unemployment rate for workers at all educational levels. Second, more workers choose to proceed to higher education where expected unemployment spells are shorter. Third, as labor force participation increases with the benefits, a larger share of the population will be employed.

We also look at the impact of benefits when they are …nanced through a proportional tax on wages. Taxation actually reinforces wage moderation and, as such, does not overrule that benefits reduce wages, increase job creation, and reduce unemployment rates. However, it weakens the incentives to acquire higher education and participate in the labor force, thus inducing a counteracting e¤ect on educational attainment and labor force participation. The element of the Nordic model that this paper underlines is the wage moderation stemming from benefits conditional on work.

Also, we …nd this 3 mechanism to be very robust to the choice of model. Moreover, looking at bene…ts through this channel highlights how they have a positive impact on educational attainment and participation, thus counteracting, at least partly, the negative e¤ect that taxation has on skill acquisition and labor force participation. The analytical results are followed up with a numerical example illustrating the e¤ects of the benefits on labor market performance and educational attainment.

The simulations indicate that bene…ts can have an important impact on unemployment for both low- and high- skilled. Without distortinary taxation, benefits also have a positive impact on skill acquisition, thus further reducing overall unemployment in the long run. When …nancing through proportional taxation on wages is iincluded in the model, the negative e¤ect of taxation on educational attainment dominates the positive e¤ect of benefits, thus resulting in a decrease in the share of the workforce acquiring tertiary education.

Nonetheless, benefits still have a positive overall impact on unemployment. Considering the previous literature, there are a number of studies that have tried to explain why the Nordic countries have performed so well despite high taxes and generous welfare arrangements. As mentioned, some of these studies have emphasized the importance of that benefits are tied to market work for the successful outcome in terms of employment and participation (see Aronsson and Walker, 1997).

A related view is provided by Rogerson (2007). He argues that the governments’ spending pattern in the Scandinavian countries, compared to other high tax countries, can potentially explain the large number of aggregate work hours observed in these countries. He shows, holding tax rates constant, that it matters if the revenue is spent on disability payments which may only be received when an individual does not work or subsidies for day care for working mothers. The reason is that childcare subsidies create jobs.

Our study also …nds that how the government choose to spend tax revenues matters for labor market performance, although for a different reason. In contrast to Rogerson (2007), our results materialize through general equilibrium effects working through wage moderation. There is also a large number of studies focusing on particular features of the welfare state in the Nordic countries, looking for instance at the impact of childcare subsidies and paid paren’tal leave schemes on labor supply and a number of other outcome variables.

British Sky Broadcasting Group, better known as BSkyB, plays an important role in the British TV and radio landscape. BSkyB is one of the world’s leading entertainment companies, with over 17 million viewers in more than nine million households across the UK. They employ cutting edge technology to enable the exceptional TV, broadband and phone experiences. BSkyB is a top 100 FTSE company with over 15,000 employees. Conducting a top-down analysis of BSkyB analyzes the media market from the big picture, all the way down to the individual stocks, which will indicate how exactly this investment has been considered beneficial.

The top down analysis is also known as the macro to micro approach. The top-down approach begins at the top, by analyzing the health of the UK economy and the effect on the performance and profitability of the companies in it.

Economic analysis

A series of economic indicators can successfully describe the pattern of projected, current or past economic activity, which is vital for any potential investor to carefully examine before deciding whether to purchase shares and equity.

Firstly, looking at the growth domestic product, or GDP, of the current UK economy. GDP is basically the direct measurement of the economy, it is a measure of a country’s economic activity, namely of all the services and goods produced in a year. However the UK economy has just recently entered 2009 in recession, on the brink of depression, after unlimited bailouts and running a colossal 15% of GDP budget deficit, the UK economy has now managed to start recovery.

Many economists accused the bad weather which was seen at the beginning of the year to have had an impact on output, particularly in the retail and industrial sectors, but many economic indicators have seen a dramatic pick up since then. Unemployment in the UK is now around 2. 5million. Macro theory predicts that when unemployment increases, GDP will fall, and this has proven to be correct.

However now the economy is in recovery, the graph shows unemployment slightly rising again, but the amount of UK residences signing up for job seekers allowance (claimant count) decreases in the fourth quarter of 2010. Unemployment is known as a counter cyclic indicator, it goes against the economy. Interest rates and inflation rates are also types of economic indicators. As the economy begins to recover from recession, with a lower unemployment rate and an increase on GDP, the government can gradually begin to bring the inflation rate back to a steady level.

When the inflation declines, there is a lack of money to supple the economy, so spending decreases and reduces the overall economic productivity rates this is because the capital required to retool companies becomes more elusive and experience.

Should this be the case, it should be wise to invest in companies that are mildly affected by a trough dip in an economic cycle, such as utilities and oil. The UK economic recovery is expected to continue into the forth quarter of 2010, the total recession from peak to trough is expected to see GDP contract by 6. 3%.

Industry analysis

It is clear that a safe yet profitable industry to invest in would be one whose assets were mildly affect by the recession.

The confectionary industry saw profits soaring during a poor economy, as Cadbury’s had a 30% profit margin in 2008 as well as Nestle who saw a 10.9% growth, it is also fact that whilst America was in the great depression in the 1930’s, some of the most famous chocolate bars were invented including Snickers and Mars Bars. Discount retail is also a good industry to invest in around this time.

Companies such as Asda saw an increase in profits during 2008/2009 whilst supermarkets such as Tesco and Marks and Spencer had decrease. Industries that fall under the banner of non cyclical mean they survive through the peaks and the troughs of the cycle, so these industries are vital to invest in.

Public utilities like gas, electricity and waste disposal are necessary for a society so these industries would never decrease dramatically, however with the forthcoming 2010 events; forecasts suggest an increase in the media industry. Digital and pay television, publishers and diversified agencies are best placed to have weathered the recent economic downturn; where as commercial television and radio are highly exposed, performing worse than in previous recessions.

The UK media industry is suffering from the ‘multiplier effect’ many companies’ structural challenges have been exacerbated by the unexpected recession. “The primary structural challenges faced by the media sector include the migration online and viewer fragmentation. These trends were not as prevalent in previous recessions and have been amplified in the recent downturn as consumers increasingly turn to the web for free content and advertisers increasingly demand measurable return on investment for their reduced advertising spends. “

Is structural unemployment something macroeconomic policymakers should be concerned about? How does it differ from cyclical unemployment? By abovementioned Is structural unemployment something macroeconomic policymakers should be concerned about? How does it differ from cyclical unemployment? Structural unemployment is categorically something that should be considered heavily by macroeconomic policymakers as the ramifications can last for decades and may require drastic actions to readdress the situation.

Structural unemployment, 2014) If the closing of the Gelling Ford Factory is taken as an example we can see that this will have an immense impact on structural unemployment rates for the area. With the plant currently employing over 1,500 staff, the layoffs in 2016 will see 1 ,200 workers lose their Jobs. Unfortunately the unemployment doesn’t end there with a butterfly effect expected to branch out to other industries, such as hospitality, that relied on the patronage of the factory workers.

Persons previously employed by he plant, or in industries connected to the plant, may find themselves out of work for extended periods of time. This has a direct impact on our GAP as households tighten their purse strings and spending decreases. (Structural unemployment, 2014) To address this issue policymakers need to look at re-killing as the market place will suddenly become flooded with people of a certain skill set with little to no ability to take Jobs in other industries.

This is a highly important factor in structural employment as workers may live in areas where Jobs in their industry are not available or they simply do not have the skill set to take on other Jobs their geographical area. Re-killing and placing people in appropriate Jobs as soon as possible should be a priority for macroeconomic policymakers as it would ensure little disruption to our GAP as workers shifting from one Job to another would continue to spend as they always had. Cyclical unemployment occurs in the peaks and troughs of the business cycle.

When business output is low layoffs occur and the job market decreases, this may last for a number of years but it is expected to cross industries. Given this transition across industries the same workers are not expected to remain unemployed during the entire period of high cyclical unemployment, rather their employment will mirror the business cycle with peaks and troughs of its own. (Cyclical unemployment, 2014) When compared with structural unemployment we see that the main difference is a decrease in employment with cyclical and almost on-existent employment with structural, this is due in most part to a lack of skills. Cyclical unemployment rates may eventually reduce whereas the structurally unemployed may never again return to the workforce. (Layton, Robinson & Tucker 2011)

References

1. Layton, AP, Robinson, TX & Tucker, B 2011, Economics for today, Coinage Learning.
2. Cyclical unemployment, 2014. Available from: http://www. Investigated. Com/terms/c/ cyclicalunemployment.
3. Asp Structural unemployment, 2014. Available from: http://www. Investigated. Com/terms/s/extemporaneousness’s. Asp

Outsourcing has been practice for decades, it happens when companies or business contract a third party, someone outside the business, to produce goods or provide services. Outsourcing can be local, within the same country or offshore, outside the country. Some of the job areas companies outsource are Accounting, Customer Services, Human Resources, Information and Technology and Payroll. Outsourcing supporters affirm that this activity provides substantial cost savings to businesses, through paying less to others do their job, at the same time they can lower prices of goods and services.

Although outsourcing brings benefits to a company, this activity may limit the quality of products and the availability of jobs in America. One of the major issues with outsourcing is security. Sensitive information has to be given or transmitted to the outsourced organization which opens the chance that the information can be hacked or stolen during the process. Likewise, confidential information, like social security numbers, bank accounts, security codes, salaries, medical records, could be susceptible to misuse or inappropriate disclosure.

Third parties, who have access to such information, may not have the same ethical standards as American workers, putting at risk the privacy of clients. A former Chase call center rep tells the story about this one thief who was able to rip off one customer for over $40,000, thanks to his constant outwitting out the internationally out-sourced security department. It wasn’t that hard. Over and over again, he was able to commit credit card fraud just knowing the guy’s name, social, and mother’s maiden name.

Outsourcing can also impact dramatically the safety and quality of products and services. Some companies do not properly evaluate the levels of risks associated with outsourcing and the impact to consumers. In 2007, millions of toys made in China were recalled because they contained lead paint. The recall brought attention to China’s lax safety standards and the lack of regulations for imported goods. Consumers and some lawmakers are calling for tougher policies to reduce the numbers of unsafe products entering the United States.

Cases like the one above can lead to an unexpected economic impact for the company in order to correct the damage and the risk to the consumers. Some experts say that outsourcing is one of the causes of unemployment in America. In times of economic crisis some companies have been forced to downsize, lying off some workers and outsource in order to survive during difficult times. Every day we see highly skilled Americans working par-time jobs without social security and below the skill level they have been trained.

Because the job they use to do has been outsourced. Outsourcing is economically justifiable only once the wage differential is large enough to more than make up for lower labor productivity. For example, if the higher wages of American workers are consistent with their relative productivity, there should be no reason for a company to move its operation overseas. Outsourcing is an attractive mechanism that has been practice for long time and some companies have had positive results.

However outsourcing is not a magical path that leads to a profitable and successful business all the time. There are a lot of risks inherent to this practice and any company willing to outsource should evaluate these risks responsibly. American investor should come up with better ideas than cutting costs by outsourcing, it is not a very smart strategy for a country that have a significant number of under-employed or unemployed citizens. Would it be smarter to find the way to take advantage of the well-educated and experienced workers, the tax payers?

1. Go to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s, and locate the gross domestic product data. Compare the annual figure for the last four years. What do the figures indicate for the next couple of years? In 2007 it was 4. 9%, in 2008 it was 1. 9%, in 2009 it was -2. 5%, in 2010 it was 4. 2%. 2011 is not yet out. These numbers indicated a rapid decrease and a rapid bounce back. I think for the next couple of years, the figures will rise again before a decrease comes again.
2. At the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ under Industries, click on Industries at a Glance to find the information about the manufacturing industry. What is the employment trend in manufacturing over the last four years (percentage change from the preceding period)? The unemployment percentage has been going down over the past four years. We are coming off of a 7. 9% unemployment rate
3. Return to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ home page and use the Search feature to find trends in employment for the state of Illinois. Look around the Web site to see what other information is available. Plot the trend in manufacturing employment in Illinois over the last four years. On your own, discuss what economic changes may have influenced that trend. In 2009, there was a big unemployment filing from the manufacturing industry due to job loss. That year there were about 65,000 job losses in the manufacturing field. It went from 620k in January to 553k in December. It has been staying around 560k-570k over the past few years though. There are many reasons the manufacturing employment has dropped. Automation, technology, outsourcing, and other things factor in the decline in jobs since 2009.
4. Based on the information you have gathered, write a brief summary of what may happen to company sales over the next couple of years. Based on what I have gathered, company sales will increase.