Levels of Employment: Considerations and Interventions for the 21st Century Labour Market
Global job polarization has led to a shortage of labour in middle-skill level jobs, while high-skill and low-skill level jobs continue to expand. People with disabilities often lack the education, training, and skills necessary to achieve high- or middle-
- PDF / 268,251 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 70 Downloads / 196 Views
individuals with disabilities, employment is often on the low-skill level of the employment scale, consisting of volunteer, sheltered, subsidized, or entry- level positions that are usually part time. In contrast, individuals without disabilities often find employment in high- or medium-skill levels of employment in occupations that require some level of education, certification, or skill-level attainment. These positions are usually full-time and accompanied by occupation recognition and prestige that supports prevailing wage and benefits. This chapter explores the low-, medium-, and high-skill levels of employment in relation to the experience of disability as a means towards economic self- sufficiency, self-determination, and well-being. For it is the level of employment people with disabilities often undertake that dictates the very nature of their ability to achieve economic self-sufficiency (Strauser 2014). Levels of employment will be reviewed on a global basis, exploring the skills and demands that comprise levels of work, and the need for rehabilitation professionals to rethink their approach to preparing individuals with disabilities for employment in the twenty-first-century economy. The concepts presented in this chapter will assist professionals working with individuals with disabilities seeking employment to move beyond mere application of job placement strategies, to a more in-depth approach with a focus on the changing work environment, skill attainment, and employer-demand side approaches to placement.
R. J. Del Valle (*) Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Lansing, MI, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 S. L. Fielden et al. (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Disability at Work, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42966-9_12
203
204
R. J. Del Valle
Changes in the World of Work As people with disabilities struggle to maintain a basic level of subsistence within low-skill levels of employment, likely within the informal economy, they are ill prepared for the “changing patterns in the world of work” described by the International Labor Organization (ILO) (2006), that are shaping labour in the twenty-first century throughout the world. The ILO (2006) describes the changing global economy, and simultaneously the nature of work available, as: 1. Technological Transformation. The massive dissemination of information and communications on a global scale presents a two-edged sword for people with disabilities. Foley and Ferri (2012) state technology exclusion for people with disabilities can be in the form of privileges being grounded in normative, social, cultural, and economic practices and in ways that reflect ideas about what constitutes normal. 2. Intensified Global Competition. The intensity of global competition pressures workplaces to adapt operations quickly to match the speed, efficiency, and quality of global market leaders. The drive for streamlining operations has led to a fluid work environment where workers must have the skills and abilities to multi-task. In
Data Loading...
