Category: Labor

Introduction

For the job description that I developed last week, selecting a labor market where the job will be located is need to be done. This paper describes the labor market examining the principles of market demographics for the labor market. It further explores the alternative approaches for designing jobs and increasing employee efficiency and motivation including job analysis. Two of the foundation strategies in running an organization’s human capital base are to play both competitively and cost-effectively.

Labor Market for Job Location

A labor market is a calculation of ongoing rates of pay related to different jobs that are for supply and demand. These supply and demand jobs are for employees who have those skills to deserve that work. The market rates for all works depend on geographical location, size of the company and different degrees. Managerial jobs mainly depend and are sensitive to the size of the company. On the other hand clerical, technical support and some professional and administrative and middle management works mainly depend on and are sensitive to the location of the company. There are cases were an accountant may be paid 8-12% more in Oakland compared to California which is just 90 miles away. There have been many comments by various compensation analysts that with time it is getting difficult to find dependable pay data that accurately relate to different locations contained by an important metropolitan area. There are various opinions from various people that salaries in Silicon Valley is higher compared to Marin Country, salary is more is Los Angeles compared to Sam Diego. Therefore it can be seen that one cannot know without proper knowledge about specific job-by-job location.

Market Demographics for Internal & External issues in the Market

In case of an internal labor market workers are hired to entry level jobs but higher level jobs are filled from within the organization. Wages determined are mostly free of market influence. In case of external labor workers move between organizations and wages and salaries are determined by several aggregate process where the organizations do not have any discretion on the wage setting. There are many internal influences that effect internal and external matters of an organization. In case of service business the quality as well as the capacity of their workforce matters a lot. For example, a motivated and well trained staff will work better. The productivity of the business, their operations, capacity management is also an important inter factor that has an influence. Changes in market size, growth and segmentation also have an influence on the requirement of labor force. Other external factors like rapid technological changes and changes in legislation have major implications for markets. Free labor market creates strong regulations on the capability of organizations to fix salaries and wages.

Recruitment Strategy for this market

Below are the recruitment strategies for the position with the use of demographics of the labor market:

• It is significant to maintain the job descriptions in progress and analyzing it.
• Using diverse analysis of sources for every job may bring differences.
• Using precise identical criterion such as site, profits & business.

Conclusion

Sounds to be uncomplicated, but until or unless someone knows to chose and use local labor market statistics properly for building right plans, one might not be paying his employees properly or overpaying the others. Being a recruiter, it is extremely significant to shell out viable earnings & wages which will draw & keep hold of recruits. It is to identify “viable” meaning in a company. This usually is on a basis of the amount of complexity, & at times internal and external diversity issues of the market, together with comparatively effortless or else complicated position filling situations.

References

1. St. Louis Fed. (2019). The Labor Market – The Economic Lowdown Podcast Series, Episode 10. Retrieved 30 January, 2019 from https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/economic-lowdown-podcast-series/episode-10-the-labor-market
2. Lisenkova, K. (2010). Special Section: Economics of an Ageing World, Demographic change and labor markets. Retrieved 30 January, 2019 from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17450144.2010.480828?journalCode=rsoc20
3. U.S. Dept. of Labor. (2019). Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. Retrieved 30 January, 2019 from https://www.bls.gov/cps/demographics.htm

Slavery hasn’t yet been completely eradicated. The colonization of native countries was the beginning of slavery in the occidental part of the world. However, labor exploitation can be found in other parts of the world. The exploitation of individuals is like cancer in our society. The cancer is hidden in the body of the society appearing like nothing is wrong. After several or even many years the society is diagnosed with the tumor of oppression, anti-values, lack of opportunities, poverty, racial discrimination, and many other varieties of dehumanization. The shock of a malign tumor of modern slavery destabilizes society. The tumor threatens society by trying to spread to the rest of the body. If the government doesn’t take urgent action to find and extract the tumor, the society might end up corrupted. It is crucial for the citizens that any kind of tumor-like modern slavery, labor exploitation, becomes exterminated.

The practice of forcing individuals to work against their will in inhumane conditions obtaining benefits on behalf of the worker’s labor is indisputably a crime in the United States of America. Unfortunately, labor exploitation is still happening causing irreparable mental, physical and financial wounds to the integrity of the human beings. The practice of labor exploitation it mostly takes place at the lowest link of the chain production. The immigrants are the most vulnerable individuals to labor exploitation due to the illiteracy of the law, the instability of documents and the lack of English as a second language. The main reason for labor exploitation has to do with economic growth. Companies pretend to raise their financial status stepping over the workers making them overwork with an inadequate salary.

Technology has empowered people throughout the world to fight against modern slavery. There is an application created by Steve Chalke for Apple and Android devices called “Stop App” which can be downloaded by anybody in the world that has a smartphone. The application main job is to recollect the stories of people that have experience, heard or seen any kind of modern slavery or human trafficking, which is another form of exploitation. It does not matter how small is the story, whether current or historic, is important and relevant. The material collected on the “Stop App” is sent directly into the Center for Intelligence-Led Prevention (CFILP). The data that was given will help to get a precise and amplify picture of anything related to modern slavery or human trafficking around the world. This technological support could benefit to combat the labor exploitation of big and small illegal organization.

Education could be an effective tool to raise awareness about any labor exploitation. Being educated on the signs that could indicate that someone is a victim of work exploitation increments the reporting and might give voice to victims who feel uncomfortable speaking out for themselves. Some of the sings that confirm labor exploitation are: “poor work and living conditions, poor mental health and lack of self-control”. Also, it is important to organize events about the kinds of labor exploitation. This could attract more people to get involved in joining the fight.

Additionally, according to a research conducted by a group of people defending the human rights in the United States, they ponder that the elimination of forced labor can only be achieved if the United States expand and improve their strategies. Mainly, the laws of immigration in the U.S. that indirectly supports the problems of forced labor needs to be refined. For instance, incrementing the chances to standardized migration and modifying visa requirements for foreign labors so they could be able to change employers would help reduce the vulnerability of workers, and it would help to avoid them from falling victim of forced labor. Moreover, the government of the U.S. must intensify the legal defense of all workers, regardless of the worker’s authorization status, and enhance the gazing of the working environment in domestic labor, agriculture, and manufacturing areas. Furthermore, training related to forced labor most reaches out over many other agencies and professionals for a boost in identifying and supporting victims.

In conclusion, the epidemic of labor exploitation will never be stronger than the unity of people fighting for their right. The people’s strength is grounded in the ability to work together aiming a better lifestyle. From those who work in restaurants making daily meals to those who generate innovative business, immigrants comprehend the value of hard working and undertaking their responsibilities. All employees deserve a secure work environment, decent payments, and protection from any sort of exploitation.

A day late and a dollar short is a popular phrase used in labor, but has it’s roots directly to the “Age of Reform.” The years of 1870 through 1920. During this period, Americans confronted a bewildering array of political, economic, and social problems created by the development of the modern United States and proposed even more solutions for dealing with them. With the influx of immigrants coming to America and the rise of the industrial age, many workers were working in unsafe environment’s, had no rights whatsoever, and were subject to “brutal and perilous working and living conditions (Academy).”

Essentially, they were being taken advantage of by the company bosses and owners as there were no rules or regulations to prevent them. The progressive movement sought to regulate business practices and create protections for workers that were not in place. In essence, innovating the entire labor industry. The labor industry was in a dark place before regulations because corruption, dereliction, and unsafe environments were rapid and had no control. The dark side of the “Age of Reform” came with it harmful conditions for labors working in factories around American. Labor unions and proponents set out to establish regulations and improve working conditions for laborers. American labor and working-class history throughout the early 20th century is a field of research of American economic history which concentrates attention on working class people’s complicated livelihoods in a evolving worldwide economic system.

Even after tightly concentrating on organizational structure in the working environment and national politics, the history of workers has extended and developed its approach to personal issues. A crucial transition in the labor and working-class history of the United States occurred in both 1896 and 1945. At the earliest stages, Americans continued to work much more hours a day than the eight they fought tooth and nail for in the end of the nineteenth century. On average, Americans ended up working in hazardous conditions for 55 to 65 (around 35,000 workers died every year in accidents at the turn of the century) (Helgeson).

By 1920, roughly a third of all-American citizens are residing in expanding neighborhoods, and joblessness, hardship, and deep rooted schisms had become a regular part of everyday life for so many of them. Laborer’s in both the Democrat or republican Party had almost no authority. The Liberal party of America was established in 1901 and rapidly arose as a powerful force. Much more than four thousand local offices and thirty-two government groups had been built within a decade. On city quadrants extending from Houston thru Chicago to Pittsburgh, Michigan, hundreds of applicants associated with the new political party wins provincial and district elections. In the meantime, head of the party, won 791,000 votes in his 1911 run for the presidency and more than a several million nominations in 1920 for president, when he was in penitentiary after being sentenced of treason throughout World War I. The U.S. labor movement sprang because of the need to protect the laborer’s mutual interest.

Unionization union members had already battled for better wages, flexible hours and better employment conditions to those in the industry sector. The union movement has contributed efforts to prevent child labor, offer additional medical benefits and help workers whom have been badly hurt or allowed to retire.

Abstract

Economics is based around how productivity is managed; supply and demand is based on the division of labor. Part of understanding what division of labor you have to have an understanding of how things operate. Economy is described as the production and consumption of goods and services are used to fulfill the needs of those living and operating within. From what has been said about the division of labor that if everyone focused on one particular job prices would rise and productivity would fall. Everything is done so that all services and goods are produced productively.

Division of Labor

The division of labor is described as the assignment of different parts of a manufacturing processor task to different people in order to improve efficiency. Having task divided in our economy cause for a more efficient and productive society. In our economy we have to outsource our products and jobs because in order to keep up with demand we have to keep up with supply. A man named Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776 he wrote in his book about how to make a pin and when he counted all the task that go into making a pin, he saw a need on dividing the labor up. Another man in the 1800’s was named David Ricardo who developed a theory called Comparative advantage and he used that to describe trade. His theory included that outsourcing and trading was beneficial for our economy to run. A good example of his theory is that France is great for their Champagne and Hawaii has the Dole plant for pineapples. David Ricardo had the philosophy that when we divide and outsource our products then our economy can run efficiently.

There are good and bad things about division of labor. When things can be divided more products can be produced in a day. For example, if you were to work at a motor vehicle plant everyone has one specific job that they do so they can master that job. Another good thing about dividing labor more products can be produced within a day, because workers don’t have to focus on all the duties of building a whole product on their own. While there are good things with this there are also bad things to go along with it. Some bad things about division of labor are people get bored with their particular job because they have no growth. Employees also become reliant on each other but if someone is behind on their particular job then everything and everyone else is behind.

Businesses are the perfect example because there’s an Accounting department, IT, human resources and the front-line employees. Businesses have multiple section because not everyone can do payroll affectly and that goes for human resources not everyone can hire people and make sure things are fair. Building a house is a great example of division of labor. In the beginning of planning to build a house to have one person that draws the plans and then you outsource to another company to build the main frame. Once the main frame has been built you have someone come in to put up the dry wall, install the roof, set up electrical and plumbing. Having all of these different jobs makes up for the productivity of homes and why neighborhoods and being builtquickly. Something that a personal experience for me with division of labor is that I used to work at the bakery department in HEB making cake and decorating cakes. When it came to dividing the jobs in the bakery one would take the orders, a few would just focus on the other the deserts for the show case and then a few other people would be in charge of the cake orders and decorating. From learning, trading and division of labor is the most essential to our economy because it allows us to continue to provide those services and goods needed to keep producing, but if we have only have one person doing the job of ten people and can create double the amount of supplies then we can continue to keep up with demand. Now that we know how the division of labor works, we can have a better understanding of how the economy is ran and have a better appreciation of getting our goods in a timely manner.

Cites

1. OpenStax CNX. (2014). Cnx.Org. https://cnx.org/contents/aWGdK2jw@11.69:6RH0nLs4@6/What-Is-Economics-and-
2. Why-Is-It-Important Munger. (n.d.). Division of Labor. Econlib. https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/DivisionofLabor.html

Non-farm businesses play a significant role in the rural economy, and its relative contribution to household employment and income continues to grow in the African continent (Haggblade et al., 2010; Costa and Rijkers, 2012; Fox and Sohnesen, 2016). In this research, Heckman two-step selection procedure was employed to investigate the effect of non-farm activities on household total income. The first stage is the estimation of bivariate probit model and marginal effects for participation in non-farm activities. The second stage estimation outcomes based on heckman two-stage selection procedure are reported in Table 4. As expected, engagement in non-farming business activities has direct impacts and stimulates their overall income at (P ≤ 0.01) level of significance. Keeping other factors constant, this implies that the annual overall income of households who undertake non-farm businesses increased by 1.007 Ethiopian Birr than that of non-participants.

Thus, non-farm labor increases household total income. This outcome is in line with findings of Gebreyesus, (2016), Astatike and Gazuma, (2019) who suggested that, families that participate in non-farm employment have higher total income as compared to those with one source of income. Farm households pursue non-farm work for multiple reasons, such as raising income, mitigating exposure, improving well-being and consumption. Assets ownership, households’ characteristics, institutions and social capital determine the level of earnings from non-farm businesses (Ashley and Carney, 1999; Camey, 1999; Barret et al., 2000; de Janvry and Sadoulet, 2000). Evidence from Egypt has suggested that non-farm activities amount to nearly 60% of total income and play an essential role in the livelihoods of vulnerable households. These rural diversification strategies have contributed meaningfully to reduce income disparities. In Ghana, poverty alleviation is linked to growth in non-farm sectors that absorbed the extra agricultural labor from the farming sector (Canagarajah et al., 1998; Adams, 1999).

On the human capital side, educational attainment shapes employment opportunities, earnings and sustainable livelihood. The coefficient of households’ educational status are negative and statistically significant at (P ≤ 0.01) probability level. This shows that the likelihood of participating in non-farm livelihood activities decreases for rural people who have any or less school background, and this leads to a loss of 13 Ethiopian Birr in their overall income. Fundamentally, the higher the education level, the higher the income. Better-educated employees have higher earnings compared to those with low levels of literacy. Evidence from Mexico has shown that, the level of literacy is positively correlated with household total income (de Janvry and Sadoulet, 2000).

This study further suggested that high level of education facilitates the access to higher pay-offs of non-farm employment. Education determine people’s earning potential and resource accumulation that can improve their livelihoods (Suryadarma and Suryahadi, 2009). Low level of literacy and educational attainment leads to high incidence of poverty (Barnes and Lord, 2013, Connelly et al., 2014). Despite progress in access to education, nearly 60% of people from the age of 15-24 years in Sub-Saharan Africa do not go beyond primary school education and they work in the agricultural sector. They experience challenges associated to their socioeconomic status. Besides, the 10% with secondary school education are in household enterprises whilst the better-educated are employed in the wage sector (Betcherman and Khan, 2015; Fox and Filmer, 2014).

The results from second stage estimation indicated that being a male contributed to earning additional 35.3 Ethiopian Birr and improving household total income at (P ≤ 0.01) significance level. This implied that, female headed-households in Ethiopia generally do not have access to higher payoff activities that could enable them to sustain their livelihoods. Lanjouw (2001) reported that women are more employed in “residual” activities with earnings below the market rate in El Salvador. Thus, women’s earnings from non-farm activities are one-third lower than men. Some regions in Sub-Saharan Africa dominated by a patriarchal system and providing small or no place for women in the society, have rural women who cannot inherit because of the interpretation of customary inheritance rules. Typically, these women are “pushed” to negotiate or even pay to access productive resources like land, water and forest, often owned or controlled by men. In many cases, this leads to losses because they are obliged to make payments in kind with part of their crops. In addition, landowners can cancel their access rights at any time. Generally, these rural women are less likely to undertake well-paid rural diversification activities.

This adversarial gender-based effect suggests labor market and income inequalities between men and women. Young women are further marginalized as a result of social norms that restrict them and their employment choices (Filmer and Fox, 2014). Pregnancy, parenting, including sets of behaviors and beliefs shared by members of a society or group of people prevent young women from building up their technical know-how and abilities. These social values impose occupational segregation that limit the number of possibilities, and resources for young women (Bertrand and Crepon, 2014; Filmer and Fox, 2014). Young men in SSA tend to have higher chances of participating in jobs with low numbers of joblessness compared to young women (Betcherman and Khan, 2015). The sexualization of socio-cultural identities that impose roles dishearten rural women from participating actively in economic activities. Female headed-households need to be coached and supported with financial facilities to own their economic businesses that can empower them to participate in more lucrative non-farm activities. To promote female headed-household’s role in rural non-farm business activities, their meaningful contribution must be recognized since the percentage of women unable to read and write is very high. Free and better-quality education can reduce wage gap and, empower women to diversify by widening the opportunities available to them. In the Philippines, women are more likely to obtain non-farm employment than men and this partly explains the higher educational attainment of girls (Quisumbing et al., 2004). Conditional transfer programs set for women in the household, is a successful means to improve the education, health and nutrition of children and women (Quisumbing and Pandolfelli, 2010).

Age has a negative and significant influence (P ≤ 0.01) on households’ annual overall income. Most youth in Sub-Saharan African countries reside in rural areas and small towns. They are vulnerable, less educated and experience many challenges, particularly for stable and lucrative work that can enable them to achieve a standard of living. They often work either in farming sectors, or are self-employed but with low earnings. Those with basic educational attainment are underemployed earning survival incomes with no profits or security that dwindles productivity (Betcherman and Khan, 2015). Moreover, in most countries, there are no financial services and innovations in rural finance designed exclusively for the youth which can encourage investment in both farm and non-farm sectors (Filmer and Fox, 2014). Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan Africa is witnessing youth bulges. Its annual growth forecast stands at 3.9 million of young people over several decades with further expansion in a year by 5.2 million inhabitants from 2025-2030 in the continent (Lam, 2014).

Thus, the size of youth cohorts translates into disappointing prospects in a competitive job market, rise of part-time work and increasing unemployment rates. Failures in hours worked and in wage rates both trigger the slump in young people’s wage income. Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa are twice marginalized due to its passive links with the labor market than the general population (Filmer and Fox, 2014). Youth who are not able to secure their preferred jobs end up working in the informal economic sector with lower wages and limited savings or usually depend on their families for survival. Deferred entry into the labor market shrinks the period income streams of young unqualified workforces. This situation causes income inequality and social exclusion. Africa’s expanding workforce can be a crucial resource in the worldwide marketplace. Over the next decade, the vast majority of young population will work on family farms and Household Corporation. With a low dependency ratio, Africa’s youth bulge can create the space for savings, investment, and stimulate sustainable economic growth.

Promoting the efficiency and productivity of youth and household non-farm business activities in rural regions may be a catalyst for growth and development of the formal sector (Filmer and Fox, 2014). Youth participation in agriculture will depend on the sustainability and profitability of family farming. The lack of enforced social welfare system in addition to the correlation between high growth rates of the youth population and unemployment is a call for development actors to improve the youth labor market and promote the distribution of dynamic resource, labor and productivity growth.

The labor movement in the United States has come a long way. That is, in the earlier years, any efforts that were made by tradesmen to create better working conditions was considered a criminal offense. Besides, many boot-makers and other tradespeople were convicted of criminal conspiracy just because they tried to negotiate for better working conditions. Initially, long working hours, low pay, and child labor were the primary characteristics that were associated with American factories. Furthermore, child labor remained to be the most challenging problem in the U.S. through to the early 20th century. Various policies were initiated in the 18th and 19th centuries that affected the government’s ability to intercede in the disputes concerning labor activities. Principles such as the principle of Laissez-Faire opposed the U.S. government’s interference with economic affairs.

Consequently, the increased number of children that worked in most American factories between 1890 to 1920 was as a result of the rapid growth of American industries. From 1932, the call for child labor and the unbearable condition reformation became so obvious. That is, Franklin Roosevelt came up with a New Deal Coalition after his election. The New Deal had its primary concern in reconstruction. Besides, various policies have been initiated by the U.S. government with the aid of the Labor Movement throughout the journey to ensure that collective bargain, fee commerce, and freedom of association were enhanced. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to chronologically trace the government’s changing relationship with the labor movement from 1890 to 1940.

The United States’ labor movement was developed to protect the interest of every worker in organized labor unions, industrial sectors, and other areas. The interest of the workers, in this case, were an enhanced and better working environment, better wages, and reasonable working hours. However, the labor movement has faced various challenges ranging from the formation of policies that prevents it from interceding on matters concerning such labor disputes and problems. An example of such systems is the Laissez-Faire, which was developed in the 18th century. All in all, from 1890 onwards, the labor movement gained powers and grew out to protect the mentioned interests of the workers. However, the major challenge throughout the journey was the 1920’s Great Depression, which knocked on the labor movement and its efforts.

That is, in 1890, the Carpenter President Peter J. McGuire, together with the labor union, organized a strike that was purposely meant to fight for the worker’s rights. It is in this year that the team won for the eight-hour working time for more than 28,000 workers and members of the union. In subsequent years, various unions were developed to assist in ending the harsh working conditions that the workers were exposed to. For instance, in 1892, the Iron and Steelworkers union defeated in the lockout at Pennsylvania. In the same year, the integrated general strike organized in New Orleans succeeded. In 1894, a mega strike erupted as a result of the boycott by the Pullman sleeping cars. However, in 1903, the Women’s Trade Union League was formed at the AFL convention to assist in fighting for gender equality. It is, therefore, right to state that most of the 1890s, the labor movement and unions spent it fighting for recognition of the worker’s rights, interests, and needs. This marks some of the examples of the fights that called for historical changes or watershed moments.

In the 1920s, the achievements acquired by the movement were shuttered as a result of the Great Depression, Labor Schism, and War, which conflicted with the American economy. However, after Franklin Roosevelt’s election, a lot of reformation was done. Policies, economic constitutions, laws, and economic rights were developed to support commercial activities, association freedom, and self-organizations with the help of the government. In 1933 after Roosevelt’s election, the New Deal came up with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to create dams that would provide electricity to the impoverished people in that region. In the same year, the New Deals came up with the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), an agricultural initiative to reduce production. There were multiple cases of underconsumption and overproduction.

In 1935, two Acts were developed concerning workers’ needs and interests. The National Labor Relations Act (1935), also known as the Wagner Act (1935), was developed as a Law that granted unions the right to obligate and organize employers to bargain collectively on the matters of employment such as the working hours, terms and conditions, and the wages. Since 1935, this law has been useful as it serves as the foundation of the current U.S. labor law. However, in the same year, the Social Security Act (1935) was passed as a New Deal legislation pushed by Franklin Roosevelt. The bill pushed for the provision of unemployment insurance for the workers as an aid to dependent children and physically disabled people. The Social Security Act also provided pensions and improved public health to workers at an old age.

In 1938, the Committee for Industrial Organization was founded, it was later named as the Congress of Industrial Organization or the CIO (1938). The CIO, together with its leader, John Lewis, was after the mobilization of workers across various occupational lines in a particular industry. This movement ensured that the labor or the union door was open to mass production and labor’s primary constituency or mass-production workers.

It is, therefore, right to state that the New Deal, which was initiated by Roosevelt after his election, marks the government’s changing relationship with the labor movement from 1890 to 1940. Furthermore, through the policies and laws, a large number of workers have been relieved from their work depression. This achievement has been attained through the provision of jobs, medical support, unemployment insurance, and pensions through the Social Security Act (1935). New Deals also ensured that stock restrictions were put on the working hours. The collective bargain between employers and employees on terms and conditions, wages, and working hours were also initiated under Roosevelt’s leadership, and this was through the development of the Wagner Act (1935).

Bibliography

1. James L. Roark, Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, Alan Lawson, and Susan M. Hartmann, The American Promise: A History of the United States, Volume II: From 1865, 4th Edition, Value Edition (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2009),
2. Field, Alexander J. ‘The impact of the Second World War on US productivity growth 1.’ The Economic History Review 61, no. 3 (2008): 672-694.
3. 29 U.S.C. § 151 [The National Labor Relations Act, July 5, 1935].

“During my work as a police officer, I encountered many emotional demanding situations in which my colleagues and I often seemed to act unfelt emotions or suppressed emotions that would better not be displayed at that particular moment. For instance, during my first weeks of duty I wondered how police officers could stay seemingly untouched while being confronted with drunk and offensive people. One colleague once told me: “I don’t take it personally, it’s part of the job and so it doesn’t frustrate me anymore” (Gelderen, B. 2013).

This above anecdote speaks to the experience of a rookie police officer fresh out of the academy. This officer learned through personal experience and colleague support as to how to handle, manage and deescalate stressful circumstances and volatile scenes. As a part of a paid police officer’s professional and organizational duties and responsibilities, they have to learn how to adjust to the mental and emotional demands in the environment they work. They have to internalize the appropriate actions, responses, use prudence, suppress and mask true emotions before, while and after interacting with the citizens, suspects, coworkers, and supervisors who all have different temperaments and personalities. “Emotional labor is defined as the act of expressing, organizationally desired emotions during service transactions” (Organizational Behavior 82). This research paper will define the concepts of emotional labor; describe, explain, and discuss various perspectives on emotional labor and its psychological harm within the workplace; conduct limited field research aimed at assessing varying understandings and experiences of emotional labor in at least three work settings; Analyze and summarize findings from my field research.

Emotional Labor

Emotional labor is the ability to alter, regulate, manage and/or suppress genuine thoughts, emotions and feelings while dealing with stressful and challenging circumstances created by customers and coworkers. Wikipedia states, “Emotional labor is the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job. More specifically, workers are expected to regulate their emotions during interactions with customers, co-workers and superiors’ (Wikipedia. 2019). Unregulated emotional labor can cause an employee to experience work related stress that will affect them mentally (i.e. anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion, low self-esteem), physically (i.e. fatigue, headaches, weight loss) and socially (i.e. verbal aggression, poor communication, withdrawn). “Work-stress was related to all adverse staff health outcomes (i.e., high psychological stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue) and most adverse work outcomes.” (Thorsteinsson, E. B., Brown, R. F., & Richards, C., 2014).

Most employers, managers, supervisors understand employees are human and have feelings but expect employees “to manage grief, depression, and anguish” (Context Magazine, 80) in a healthy manner, while performing their organizational duties and responsibilities. Employees who lack the ability to manage emotional labor in the workplace will become stressed, depressed, and they will be unproductive in the workplace. Emotional labor does not only have a psychological effect on employees but it also has an adverse effect on an organizations ability to grow due to employee turnover and dissatisfaction. “The effects of emotional labor within the organization are largely negative. Employees experience stress, depression, panic disorder, psychological distress, and job dissatisfaction. For the organizations, negative effects are exacerbated by employee dissatisfaction, performance reduction, and turnover” (Lee, Y. H., Lee, S., & Chung, J. Y. 2019). Persistent emotional labor can be the leading cause of emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion can take a serious toll on an employee physically and mentally. Someone experiencing emotional exhaustion will likely have negative attitudes toward others, and the workplace. Emotional exhaustion in the workplace is a clue that an employee is psychologically and emotionally drained. “Emotional exhaustion is caused by persistent and excessive emotional labor. Emotional exhaustion refers to exhausted and depleted emotions due to work and is a chronic response to work stress situations that are associated with conceptually high levels of human contact (Ryan, 1971; Maslach, 1982” (Lee,Y. H., Lee, S., & Chung, J. Y. 2019). The totality of this research concludes that the psychological cost of emotional labor includes but is not limited to emotional exhaustion, stress, poor communication, aggression, conflict, burnout, antisocial behavior, depression, panic disorder, psychological distress, fatigue, job dissatisfaction and poor work performance.

Interviews

Three professionals were interviewed from three different workplace settings. These interviews were conducted to gain an understanding and perspective into how these professional handle emotional labors in their places of employment.

Director of HIM

As Director of HIM, Kathrine is greatly satisfied with her job and work environment. Kathrine is expected to present herself in a courteous, professional and respectful manner at all times. In the role of a director Kathrine is expected to be polite with or without instruction because of the type of clients they we serve who are easily triggered. Kathrine’s department policy states that she is to treat clients, staff members as customers with exceptional customer service. All employees are expected to be professional and treat everyone with courtesy and respect. Kathrine is expected to encourage and support patients by abiding by the guidelines set forth by HIPAA. In her field she assists clients with copies of their medical records and must abide by HIPAA. She keeps a log of who requested records, when they were picked up, how much they paid, etc. as a way to be organized so anyone can assist them when needed. Kathrine smiles when she would prefer to scream or from because department policy states she must be professional at all times. Kathrine feels stressed when she feels one way but has to pretend she feels another way. As an example, Kathrine states “We are in the process of moving to a new building and my unit is sometimes overlooked. As the Director, I am not asked directly about what is needed. I have had to interject myself in order to ensure my unit needs are accessed and addressed.” Kathrine does not deal with a lot of stress in the workplace, but states that in the past when she was stressed it brought about some manageable frustration. In efforts to suppress her true feelings Kathrine communicates and vents those feeling to someone she trust.

Social Worker

As a social worker Crystal is highly satisfied with her job. However, she is not satisfied with the workplace environment. Crystal is expected to present herself in a professional manner to patients. This includes dressing professional and/or present information accurately. Crystal does not have any direct instructions to be polite, but she is expected to be respectful towards patients at all times. The organization policy that Crystal uses as a roadmap to influence her work and conduct states that an independent contractor must maintain a high standards in professionalism, competence, objectivity, and integrity. Crystal is expected to encourage and support patients as part of her job as a therapist and intake clinician. She supports patients who are newly diagnosed with mental illness, as well as encourage those patients with a long history of mental health issues to remain diligent in receiving and engaging in ongoing treatment. At times Crystal would like to scream because it is not easy dealing with a patient who may be in an active manic or psychotic state. She has learned to adjust based on the situation. She may start out smiling to put the patient at ease, but it could easily turn into a frown. She has found herself talking in a more assertive and firm tone when a patient is refusing to listen. Crystal states that her stress levels fluctuate in the mental health field. Most days are stressful, but as a professional, she is taught to manage her stress by consulting with colleagues, stepping away from a situation and practicing self-care. Work stress is inevitable, but as a professional, you learn the best way to deal with stress. Some are better equipped than others. Seeking out the support of a team member has been very effective in assisting Crystal in managing her emotions. In Crystal’s field she has felt tired, frustrated, amused, irritable and sad at one time or another. It truly depends on the situation and the patient involved. Crystal stated that frustration comes when a patient refuses to take medication and you see them slowly declining and despite your best efforts, they still refuse. She also stated that amusement comes when a patient denies being manic when you can clearly see that they haven’t slept in days, are disheveled, are going on tangents and can’t sit still. She also feels irritable when patient’s miss appointments and as the professional, she knows how critical it is that the patient maintain consistent and ongoing treatment. Her sadness occurs when a patient describes in detail their increased feelings of sadness, hopelessness and worthlessness. She knows despite her best efforts, it will be difficult to pull this patient out of their depression. Being the professional she is Crystal is able to mask her true feelings by smiling.

Quality Assurance Manager

As a Quality Assurance Manager, Donnie is highly satisfied with his job and workplace environment. Donnie is expected and instructed to present himself in a respectful, polite and professional business manner at all times. Donnie states that he has an organizational policy that he must follow that speaks to how he is to conduct himself and treat coworkers in the workplace environment. Donnie explains that there are policies in place that he must adhere to because he is a representation of the company/organization that employees him. As manager it is part of Donnie’s job to encourage, support and uplift his team and other team members so they can perform to their highest ability. Donnie provides an example that during weekly meetings the staff is notified of praise received from the customer or other team members. The workplace is not always going to be peachy. Donnie explains that there was an incident where another employee A tried to get another employee B reprimanded as a result of employee B’s refusal to report to them directly. Employee A is not employee B’s direct supervisor. Donnie stated that employee A’s attempt to get another employee reprimanded angered and agitated him because their actions was perceived to be devious and underhanded. Instead of confronting employee A in an aggressive manner Donnie decided to suppress his anger and remove himself from the situation. “Suppressing anger characterizes a deferential form of emotional labor traditionally associated with jobs performed by women. Yet women do not experience higher levels of burnout and inauthenticity than men because of the types of jobs they perform, but rather because managing feelings of agitation has a different effect on women than it does on men” (Erickson, R. 2001). Donnie states that removing himself from intense situations and not expressing his true feelings permitted things to eventually work out over time. Donnie states that he does not feel stressed when he feels one way and have to pretend he feels another way. He states that positive or negative feelings are normal and his experience with people has prepared him for those he will encounter in the workplace. Work stress makes Donnie feel tired and irritable. Donnie explains that he does not like feeling tired or irritable because it affects his work productivity. In an effort to avoid workplace distractions he focuses on why he is at work and focus on task prioritization. Task prioritization permits him to organize and/or complete things in order of their importance in the mist of workplace discord and distraction. To suppress his feelings, Donnie usually shutdown, keep quiet, and isolate himself from others. Laughing, smiling and joking are minimal.

Conclusion

Emotional labor is the ability to alter, regulate, manage and/or suppress genuine thoughts, emotions and feelings while dealing with stressful and challenging circumstances created by customers and coworkers. Based on the three interviews it can be determined that job satisfaction, and psychological distresses are two causes of emotional labor that can cause poor work performance, aggression, unnecessary conflicts, antisocial behavior, depression, panic disorder and fatigue. Job stress “can lead to negative physiological, psychological, and behavioral responses among employees” (Jeung, D. Y., Kim, C., & Chang, S. J. 2018). Effective ways to navigate through emotional labor while at work includes but is not limited to venting to someone you trust; being honest about your emotions, internalizing your true emotions so that you can model the appropriate verbal and/or non-verbal behaviors in the face of rude, condescending, disgruntled, annoying or impatient coworkers and/or supervisors and still accomplish the daily demands of your job.