Social and Demographic Trends in Workstations Paper Example

Introduction

Over the years, the world has been going through a tremendous and precipitous transformation, which have widely affected business operations. For instance, during the last few decades, organizations have been operating in a changing labor market conditions because of emerging social and demographic trends. Demographic and social issues are features related to population, age, gender, language, and geographical concerns such as mobility and immigration. The manner in which these trends are addressed in the workplace can have a direct and enduring impact on human resource management and business productivity (Karoly & Panis, 2014). Therefore, this report will highlight and address important social and demographic changes taking place in the labor force and workstations. The paper will also have a conclusion section discussing essential practices that might be productive in dealing with evolving labor force issues to maximize diversity, responsibility, and sustainability in organizations.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The Slow Labor Force Growth

In the last two decades, the labor force has been growing more slowly as compared to the previous years. Partly, this is due to the decline in fertility rate, which dropped by about a quarter after baby boomers reached the working age. Also, the progressive labor force participation by women has led to a decreased birth rate. In fact, the feminist movements have continued to advocate for equal gender rights and participation of women in the economy. As a result, it is projected that the birth rate will continue decreasing in the future despite the labor market demanding more labor supply (Ouye, 2011). The slow workforce growth has adverse effects on organizations, especially during employee recruitment. On the other hand, immigration policies have directly affected the composition of the workforce. Initially, people were looking for greener pasture in developed nations such as the United States but with most of the developing nations, undergoing gradual workforce growth and their population aging on a drastic scale the external source of labor supply is likely to keep shrinking. Consequently, some organizations have been affected by stiff competition for skilled workers mostly during the period of robust economic growth.

Aging Workforce Population

Mostly, rapid aging is a reflection of decline and stabilization of fertility rates. In the United States, life expectancy has risen and the number of boomers reaching the retirement age is expected to increase until the year 2030. According to Census Bureau, the portion of employees aged over 65 years is anticipated to rise from 13 to 20 percent by 2050. Likewise, the number of employees over 85 years is likely to tipple from approximately 2 percent to about 6.5 percent by the end of the 21st century (Karoly & Panis, 2014). Therefore, it means that the millennial cohort will have limited opportunities to take over the workforce especially in an executive position. Mainly, this could be detrimental to the young generation who are more educated and technology oriented.

Increased Importance of Immigration

Immigrants play an essential role in economic growth and continue to be part of the workforce in various nations. For instance, in America, the legal immigrants of the working age may have supplied about 40 percent of the growth in the United States labor force by mid-1990. According to the Census Bureau's Projections, it is estimated that by the year 2100 immigrants and their offspring in America will account for two-thirds of the workforce growth (Karoly & Panis, 2014). The cohort has been found to bring cultural diversity to the organization especially in an era characterized by technology advancement and globalization. Some of the most prosperous businesses have been outsourcing talented and skilled personnel worldwide to penetrate and thrive in the international market.

Declining Readiness of New Entrants to the Labor Market

Although aging workforce has been a consistent concern in the human resource sector, the readiness of millennial generation to take over the baby boomers positions has also been attracted the attention of several organizations (Ouye, 2011). The expectation for high education and academic certificates have been on the rise in almost all types of job and industries. Consequently, the millennial generation is expected to acquire an education level higher than the boomers. Unfortunately, today securing education has been a challenge limiting the chances of new entrants in the labor market. Likewise, learning is becoming extremely expensive and the level of dependency has constantly been rising. Therefore, young people in society have limited access to learning institutions leaving them unskilled and unprepared to take over the labor market (Ouye, 2011). As a result, the different organization is expected to face skills and talent crisis as finding skilled people to fill jobs continue to be a competitive affair in a labor market filled with semi-skilled or unskilled people.

Conclusion

In conclusion, social and demographic trends in workstations have a profound impact on both personal and professional settings. For instance, with baby boomers taking some of the executive positions in the organizations the labor force will have to acquire adaptive, agile and responsive skills to integrate effectively. Likewise, there is a need to modernize organizational leadership to meet the expectation of the contemporary and changing workforce. In most cases, the modernization process starts by changing the corporate culture to adapt skills that are oriented to both organizational and personal objectives. Personally, interacting with diverse people have been a fascinating encounter because I relish learning about different cultures and acclimating constructive practices to promote growth. Therefore, since globalization has taken a central role in the development of various organization having a diverse workforce is a privilege. Lastly, technology continues to influence business operations and as a new entrant to the labor market, it has been important to go through several training programs to acquire essential skills and prepare for the market opportunity.

References

Karoly, L. A., & Panis, C. W. (2014). The 21st century at work: Forces shaping the future workforce and workplace in the United States. RAND Labor & Population.

Ouye, J. A. (2011). Five trends that are dramatically changing work and the workplace. Knoll Workplace Research, 1-14.