Unemployment

Unemployment

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Unemployment

Unemployment refers to the occurrence of people being without jobs while they are actively seeking jobs. This can be due to the mismatch between demand and supply of laborers with skills in a structural point of view. In addition, this can be as a result of market mechanisms that compel a company or organization to downsize its labor force by laying off workers. This results in the workers becoming unemployed. Unemployment usually casts a negative image on the outlook of companies and the lives of the affected workers. However, there are positive outcomes that can be realized among the unemployed after undergoing layoffs.

There are several assumptions that can be put up from the process of unemployment. Families of the affected lose their sources of income, once the companies undergo layoffs they lose the trust and confidence from the public, the economic state of the area is negatively impacted and there is loss of hope. There are challenges to these assumptions especially from the statistics and comparisons of states like Michigan and European performances on the unemployment rate. For example, after the steel industry collapse and recession of Detroit, the unemployment rate was the highest ever recorded (McGinnis, 2004).

This changed once there was outsourcing of different companies, markets and new opportunities created. The unemployment rate gradually decreased to the minimum levels. In comparisons to Europe, unemployment is highest through retention of the workers despite tough economic times (Werding, 2006). Several positive outcomes can be realized from unemployment after downsizing and layoffs. The unemployed population can branch out to self-employment, specialization of different jobs based on the locally available materials and different companies can be started to absorb these workers in equally related fields.

References:

McGinnis, C. (2004). Michigan Genealogy: Sources & Resources. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co.

Werding, M. (2006). Structural Unemployment in Western Europe: Reasons and Remedies. Cambridge: MIT Press.