Monday, September 6, 2010

Involuntary part-time labor days














Double dip,single scoop or just a long slow climb out of recession some job conditions are likely to remain in place. Problems faced by hourly, low-level workers and others struggling to make ends meet on reduced or uncertain hours are unlikely to go away as the recession ends. The extended period of high unemployment has driven down wages for some low skilled outsourced services. It was reported that some outsourced jobs, such as call centers have become as cheap to fill in the US as in India.

An AARP bulletin based on recent bureau of labor statistic says that The number of people working less than they would like, due to their hours being cut back or their inability to find a full-time job, held steady at about 8.6 million
In addition to being susceptible to reduced, irregular and fluctuating hours, hourly and part time workers are sometimes not eligible for employee benefits from employers.Part-time workers may not receive unemployment benefits when laid off.

“Certainly the current recession is contributing to underemployment, as evidenced by the proportion of American workers classified as ‘involuntary part-time,’
said Susan Lambert and Julia Henly in their forthcoming paper, “Work Schedule Flexibility in Hourly Jobs: Unanticipated Consequences and Promising Directions.LINK.
The Census Bureau uses the term for those who work less than 35 hours a week because they could not find a full-time job or those who work reduced hours due to “slack demand.” In November 2009, 9.2 million workers fell in this category, the highest level in recorded history


People are talking about it. A series of four regional forums are planned by the White House on the issue of workplace flexibility in low wage and manufacturing sectors.
Henly and Lambert expect the needs of workers for stable adequate hours and benefits will be discussed.
An increasingly large part of the work force has stake in these job issues

No comments:

Post a Comment