Recently, we’ve been discussing the lower position jobs in the workforce. Many questions were raised about the reasons behind some job disparities. Some of us dislike our managers and bosses because they are not doing the physical labor. Others found that they held close personal relationships with their bosses or managers. This also brought up the question of who works these low paying jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich’s book shed some light on the issues at hand. During her job as a server, she was upset with herself because she failed to help George when he was being accused. She said this was because of the workforce she was in. However, being from a more prestigious background, it is hard to tell if that is how someone would truly feel in that position. She also showed how poorly we treat the people who work in our lower paying positions. We see that there are problems in our workforce that need to fixed.
My Question to you is: What do you think would help change the current disparity of the workforce to become more diverse and more supportive of lower income families?
The current disparity of the workforce is so grave, and so monumental that to truly fix it we would have to change the very foundation we have built it on. Privilege, power, and a systematic wave of ignorance to others way of life. I honestly don't think we can do much to change it, if you increase minimum wage then prices raise, if you offer better benefits, then pay cuts have to be made. In this system of capitalism everything has a cost, and some of these are negative externalities. I guess it is a question of how far we will go before the people rise up and rock the very system that they are enslaved to. Slavery truly exists in America, the shackles are invisible to the human eye but very much alive to the indebted souls.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hellen, that a huge gap between labor-intesive workers and the white-collared work force exists.
ReplyDeleteTo fix this gap in understanding, and to ultimately change treatment of labor-intensive workers I believe that companies should take the lead. Their mission statement should include a component about the equal treatment of all employees, and just as Michelle had to do at her camp, I believe that companies should require everyone from the interns to the top executives to spend a day on the janitorial or cafeteria shift. Lessons in empathy may not directly create a living wage for people who work so hard day in and day out, but at least it would improve how they are treated.
It is human nature, I believe, to self-promote. Yes, there are great people out there working for the greater good, but I feel that, on the whole, we're about making sure we make it in this world. That being said, I think it's hard for the people on top of the system to relate to people struggling on the bottom - and thus, we have this huge gap between the classes and the structure of the workforce. To bridge this gap would require a change in the way we view the world. Someone in management, for instance, should work the jobs they are overseeing so they could understand the positions felt by their employees. Likewise, if an employee were able to spend some time in a position of higher power to gain, perhaps, a different perspective of those responsibilities. I believe that this method - of stepping into someone else's shoes - would help to provide the necessary understanding to encourage all of us to work for the greater good.
ReplyDeletePersonally I believe that current disparity of the workforce cannot currently be changed. In order for these to even be possible you have to change the perspective of the higher class and those who are employing the lower working class. You would have to change the minds of people who were raised o believe there were better whether they flaunt that idea or not. In order for change to occur these people would truly have to care more about their workers than their money, and lets face the capitalist ideas of good business won’t ever let that happen. It’s all about money and each worker cost, from the eyes of the boss why invest in someone you believe in disposable? It’s a horrible fact in this country and would probably decades to overcome as you would have raise a whole new generation
ReplyDeleteFor a more abstract approach I believe that it is within the value of respect that there could be catalyst. If people, in general, learned to appreciate and acknowledge the work the low-paying-jobs are actually doing there would be less ignorance. What Enhrenrich sheds light on in the investigative journalistic approach is how demeaned, belittled, and disrespect the system sets up workers to be. The workers do not feel powerful. The system the Enhreinch is exposed to is a system that makes a paradigm of second rate citizen because they are not valued. Respect is key in shifting the thoughts and actions to increase pay in low-paying-jobs and until this occurs I see little change tangible.
ReplyDeleteI think in an individualist society, such as the United States, there are bound to be large gaps between socioeconomic classes in our society. The people at the "top" do not look out for, reach out to, or even think about the people at the "bottom." There are, of course, some exceptions to my preceding statement, (i.e. millionaires who start charities, volunteer around the world, or are genuinely concerned with the well being of others) but they are hard to find. I think there is a difference between throwing a minute percentage of one's income at a charity every month to get a tax break, and actually caring about the lower classes of our society. I catch myself being inconsiderate too, I often take out my mood on someone working behind a counter and aren't as friendly as I would hope to be. I think the only thing that would change this large gap would be a change in the mindset of our entire country. We would need to be a much more collectivist society to help the population become more level.
ReplyDeleteI believe systematic change needs to happen in order to change the disparity of workforce. Currently there is not much the government can do to change the system. Switching to communism would not be a solution. Throughout history many have attempt to change the system take a look at China, Russia, and Cuba these Marxist attempts of revolutions create further disparities. Classism will exist till the end of time. As for an individual level as Jeanette points out respect is everything. Treat others like you want to be treated. Little improvement on a personal level would make a big difference in people’s lives.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion it would take a lot to change the world in which we live now. There is such large gap that it would take a change in lifestyle from each class in society in order to be able to lessen the gap. I personally don't think that the larger population is going to be willing to do this anytime soon unless they has some incentive to. If one is happy with the way that they live then what would be their motivation to change that system of life? Even if people want this gap to be lessened and know that it would make our society better, I wonder how far exactly they'd be willing to personally go to actually change society? If a change were to happen it can't come from just a few people, it would have to be a majority thing that everyone took part in. I have little hope that this could actually happen, but if people could start thinking in these terms and making changes in their daily lives than maybe we could take a step towards making this change.
ReplyDeleteIn order to change the current disparity of the workforce, the entire population of America would have to put conscious effort into changing the ideals of the workforce. I do believe that the current workforce has numerous faults, but the idea of universal change in the workforce is not possible. In an ideal world, people would receive jobs based on their personality, skills and useful knowledge rather than their track record. Yes, a track record says a lot, but it does not talk about one's upbringing. For example, one might be running for a job position against another person and not get the job because they didn't go to college, but they are just as smart and didn't come from a wealthy background so they couldn't afford college. I believe that the only way for the playing field to be level in the workforce is for employers to care about the person's current characteristics rather than their past credentials. This idea is a strong and empowering one, but unfortunately it could only occur in utopia.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there will always be some sort of disparity within the workforce because naturally there will be variance in the distribution of positions. In order to make an effort to help change this current disparity, the managers and bosses of the world must understand the background of people in these lower paying jobs. It is easy for bosses to look at their employees as just workers rather than real people with real problems. However, they can become more supportive of these lower income families if they make connections with their employees. Managers become caught up in the hierarchy of power and seem to disregard their employee’s lives outside of work, but if they took the time to learn about their lower income employees then they would create more effective relationship. Still, it is impossible for this disparity to be completely removed within the workforce. Lower paying jobs will always exist because there will always be people to accept these lower paying jobs. As Jessica mentioned, the lack of disparity can only exist in a utopia. Everyone has different opportunities in life and it would be helpful if all people could afford college and all people had connections to internships in order to move up in the workforce, but this is not plausible. If employers were to focus on personal experience rather than education, then a change would be made in this disparity.
ReplyDeleteAlthough disparities are often inherited and people can become trapped in low income jobs, I think that one of the most important things that people who want to improve their economic and social status can do is lobby for education. A specialized and educated worker earns more money. If people are aware that they need to invest in their human capital, then they will pressure the government for programs that help them do this. As groups that have been discriminated against or ignored start to perform jobs alongside the "dominant" social class, hopefully disparities and discrimination can be eliminated.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with practically everyone else who has posted so far. I feel like having a significant gap between high income positions and low income positions makes reconciliation of the gap complicated. I feel like much of the gap is due to a mindset issue. I don't think one party alone can be blamed for the disparity, everyone involved has been contributory. Saying that society needs to change seems redundant because basically this issue IS society. Clearly all the factors connected like life styles, frames of mind, and mutual consideration will have to go through some kind of transformation if we collectively desire change. The key to change lies more in the populace itself than anywhere else. On another side of the argument, perhaps there isn't really any way to change the current trend. I'm not saying that it is right or fair, but this is a capitalistic society that rewards the lucky successful few. In some cases the disparity is more drastic than others, but I almost think that this is an unfortunate side effect of "the system". There will always be a gap, it is probably just a matter or how extreme it is. I personally don't know what would be the best course of action to remedy it when the gap is severe.
ReplyDeleteThe current disparity of the workforce is alarming and unfortunate. I think that many things can be learned from this book, and many actions can be taken as a result of this book. Now that we have seen the disparities of the workforce second hand, we can take steps to act against it. We can take the time to consider the way that we treat our employees and those employees we come in contact with. Once we have done that, we have the opportunity to change the way we act toward those employees. We can also make sure that employees are receiving fair wages for the job that they do. These are only the first couple steps, in a series of many, that we can take to discourage the disparities in the workforce.
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