[/caption]Carol Forsloff - “$8.50? I wouldn’t work for that. Besides I don’t want to have to stand on my feet all day if I can help it." The twenty-something who had been unemployed for nearly a year was looking for “something better,” which raises questions about work and attitude and how much of the latter figures into the nation’s unemployment figures.
At the local Bed, Bath and Beyond in the Hillsboro area near Portland a sign spells out visibly to passersby the words “Help Wanted.” The sign has been in the window for more than three months. When a journalist asked if the management was truly looking for new employees or just wanted to keep a list for reference on an ongoing basis, the message was clear that the store needed additional personnel. An additional comment came with the information, “it’s hard to find good people for this kind of work.”
Work values are in part a cultural issue mixed with age and education. These are not, however, the main areas of focus when unemployment figures are given. We don’t know how many jobs remain vacant vs. those who won’t fill those jobs because the work itself is not of the nature an individual might like to perform.
A study in the UK reported in 2004 provides some answers about unemployment and worker preferences. The research was based on 300 registered unemployed people in Scotland. The issue is whether there is a reluctance among the unemployed to seek service work and how that might differ from other job seeking groups. The study also examined differences in job seekers’ attitudes towards entry-level work in retail, hospitality and call center work. Results showed that a considerable minority of research subjects said they would not accept entry-level service work in retail and hospitality. Older men were particularly reluctant to consider these jobs. Young people without specific experience in these areas also were reluctant to consider these jobs.
An important study conducted in 1978 gives substantial clues to the attitudes of youth towards entry level and service work. In an economy where there are a substantial number of college and trade school graduates, there has been a growing sense of entitlement for higher paying jobs with career ladders and social acceptability. That sense of entitlement prohibits the notion of accepting the job that is lesser than one’s preconceived expectations of work even during difficult times. In fact researchers found this attitude responsible for large numbers of unemployed among college-educated young adults. Research also found a higher level of radical response to the unrealized aspirations of these youth, which may be one of the reasons for violence during periods of unrest, as has been demonstrated recently in Europe and the Middle East. The highly educated worker is apt to have a radical approach towards having the right work with the right pay. At the same time the findings also determined that there is a far broader base of entitlement belief that is more universal and found among the less educated, working-class young, what researchers call “individualistic” or “universalistic” entitlement. This is seen as potentially responsible for discontent during periods of social and economic change.
This attitude towards work and resistance to jobs considered below one’s expectations is not confined to the developed nations of the world. In Africa there are ongoing discussions about long-term unemployment among the youth and how attitude impacts job choice. A blog specific to the issues of education and work in Ghana tells us that as an increasing number of institutions have churned out more and more college graduates, these new graduates have certain work expectations that include salaried jobs with status. The young people have a fear of self employment, or ventures that require individual initiative and work that does not have a predictable income at the outset. The result is that large numbers of young adults are unemployed.
Unemployment is an issue around the world and not confined to one age or ethic group. Seniors face the dilemma of competing with younger people for those salaried, status jobs and are also reluctant to work considerably below their previous wage and status.
High unemployment is related to economic conditions, but research shows it also has to do with attitude. There are jobs that are not being filled and workers reluctant to take these jobs. Some say the responsibility is that of prospective employers to raise wages, while others maintain there should be an attitude change instead. But whatever the solution becomes, the sense of entitlement and rising expectations in an economic downturn are at the core of social and political unrest.
