Ivan Diaz
College Writing 2
Dr. Wielgos
4/16/2015
The Changing Landscape of Work
People are known for being resistant to
change; it is a natural habit of ours. It is kind of ironic since we live in a
world where the only thing that is constant, is change itself. Some people
learn to adapt to the oncoming changes in life but for those who are not as
present minded, they get left behind. From very early on, kids were told by
their parents about striving for the “American Dream”, get an education so we
can get a good job, or that hard work always pays off. Being the little suckers
we were, we actually believed them. As those kids grew up, went through the
college experience, and entered or tried to enter the workforce, they found out
that their parents had lied to them several years ago. Today, the workplace is
vastly changing in regards to jobs being offshored, education being done more
creatively, and changes in technology.
Industry has been on the path towards globalization
and this in turn makes individual workers try to compete with others on a
global scale. Thomas L. Friedman in his article “The Untouchables,” from the
insightful collection Writing in the Disciplines, believes that only the
jobs of the untouchables will not be outsourced as he mentions “Not only does
my work have to fit in somebody’s global scale…I had better be able to do that
as well or better than anyone else in the world” (170). In other words,
according to Friedman, your job better be global and you must be doing your job
so well that someone cannot do it better somewhere across the world for
cheaper. Many other writers, agree with Friedman, and reiterate that fact that
a lot of American jobs are being exported somewhere else for cheaper labor. One
such writer, Alan S. Blinder, in his piece, “Will Your Job Be Exported?”,
relies on a worrisome social and economic phenomenon that “the greatest problem
for the next generation of American workers may not be lack of education, but
rather offshoring” (9). If Blinder is correct in his assumption, then everybody
busting their ass at a university still are not guaranteed a job after college.
But as our own experiences in the work force prove, companies still prefer
educated individuals over no educated ones that work just as hard and this can
be seen when we analyze education in the changing landscape of work.
As my assertion demonstrates, the ideal
that education does not guarantee a job after college but does vastly help is
proven by writers like Thomas L. Friedman in his article “The Untouchables,”
from the collection Writing in the Disciplines, acknowledges that it may
be a challenge but individuals will still get jobs as he emphasizes “There will
be plenty of good jobs out there in the flat world for people with the right
knowledge, skills, ideas, and self-motivation to seize them” (169). Another way
of saying it, people should relax because if they are fairly qualified or
educated they will find a job somewhere. Other writers, tend to agree with
Friedman on this subject and declare the best new jobs will be filled with
brains rather than brawn. Writers, Richard W. Judy and Carol D’Amico, in their
piece, “ Work and Workers in the Twenty-First Century,” support the education
theory that “ The best jobs created in the Innovation Age will be filled by
Americans to the extent that workers possess the skills required to complete
for them and carry them out” (165). If writers like these are on to something,
then college educated people should feel some type of assurance on their job
security. We still just cannot sit back and be blind to the fact that work and
technology are blending in ways we have never seen before, and we must be aware
of that.
As I mentioned before, our workplace has
changed drastically and become influenced heavily by the technology advances
that have been made; writers such as Richard Sennett in his article “No Long
Term: New York and the Corrosion of Character,” from the illuminating
collection Writing in the Disciplines, accepts the fact that the fastest
growing sector in the labor force deals with computers as he discusses “The
computer is now used in virtually all jobs, in many ways, by people of all
ranks…” (156). Which in turn translates to, all types of people in all types of
jobs are using technology, so get used to it. Many other people also tend to
side with his argument that technology is taking over the workplace. An example
of one individual, Tom Peters, in his article, “I Feel So Damn Lucky!” admits
his love for technology by stating “Technology is changing everything. Believe
the hype-if anything, it’s understated” (162). If what Peters envisions is
correct then we as the educated individuals we are must embrace this new
technology in our workplace.
What it all boils down to is that you as an individual need to
control the controllables: your education, self-determination, work ethic,
developing skills constantly and that should be enough so you do not have to
worry about the changing landscape of work. Doing these things will most likely
land you a job amidst the offshoring of American jobs, education needs, and
technology takeover in the workplace.
Works
Cited
Blinder, Alan. “Will Your Job Be Exported?” Writing in the Disciplines. Eds. Lawrence Behrens and Arthur Rosen. Boston,
2011.8-13. Print.
Friedman, Thomas I. “The Untouchables.” Writing in the Disciplines. Eds. Lawrence Behrens and Arthur Rosen. Boston,
2011.169-72. Print.
Judy, Richard W. and Carol D’Amico. “Work and Workers in the
Twenty-First Century. “Writing in
the Disciplines. Eds. Lawrence
Behrens and Arthur Rosen. Boston, 2011.163-68.Print.
Peters, Tom. “I Feel So Damn Lucky!” Writing in the Disciplines. Eds. Lawrence Behrens and Arthur Rosen. Boston,
2011.160-62. Print.
Sennett, Richard. “No Long Term New Work and the Corrosion of Character.”
Writing in the Disciplines. Eds. Lawrence Behrens and Arthur Rosen. Boston,
2011.150-59. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment